Chokehold
by LightRedemption
Summary: As Bill's death starts to take its toll on the rest of the original group of the survivors, Zoey was the one who took it the hardest. She must find the resolve within herself, but she needed a little help from an unexpected acquaintance. This is what - unofficially - missing from "The Sacrifice" comic. Femme slash, L4D is a game about zombies, so T and above would be appropriate.
1. Out of my mind

**This event took place after the canon death of Bill in "The Sacrifice" comic, before "The Passing". If you are unaware of the happenings in those official media, it is best that you take a look at that first.**_  
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_None of this is official in any way, in case people get confused._

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_Chapter 1: Out of my mind_

"Hey."

No answer.

"Hey."

Still no answer.

"Hey Zoey!"

That unnecessary loud call was directed at the pondering girl atop the bridge's control panel. Her undeniable calm expression, dark locks, pink jumpsuit and plump lips were much the same, but no longer her mental strength. Francis was getting sick of that, for even after his screaming into her ear, she was not paying him any mind. The hard headed, tattoo-covered biker could not do much else, though, for he was unable to blame her actions, or lack thereof, at all. They had been staying up on the raised bridge for the last hour, doing basically nothing but look out, and there was not even much to look out for. Even though it might have cost them dearly should they be tongue-tied by some Smoker up at this height, anything activity at all would have, at the very least, taken their minds off of a much bigger crisis.

"Francis, I think we should leave her alone for now." Louis waved his hot-headed teammate towards him. He was basically an invalid at this point; having his leg injured severely before the fight and could not be able to move at all, by himself at least. Francis murmured something incoherently, while helping Louis up on his feet.

"I don't even wanna know when little Miss Sunshine would be less grouchy." Francis spitted at the river below out of frustration. He was definitely feeling her loss as well, but according to the biker, it never would have done anything good for them if she just stayed like that. "I don't know about you man, but I'm sick of waiting like this."

"I don't suppose there's anything we can do." Louis shrugged at that notion, as he was eased off to a east side of the bridge, facing the generator, looking out to the open area not so long ago was filled with crawling Infected. He wished he could boast to someone how the three of them took them all out, but there was no one he could have shown off to, or it was not like they were able to dispatch them either. The Infected horde was still there, just no longer intense and raging like before, but dispersed and back to its idle state. The two of them kept watch for a while, staring far into the city, but saw no sign of activities other than the wandering dead. "I've got to say that this is nerve wrecking in itself though."

"How long are we going to wait here like this?" Francis was obviously losing his patience, not like he had much at first. His right hand was supporting Louis, while his left hand was still holding the Sniper Rifle like holding onto dear life. There was nothing short of breaking his hand would make him drop that gun right now, as it is of utmost important after all. "It's been like… forever, and what exactly are we even waiting for?"

"I'm not sure. No one is telling us what to do either." Louis seemed rather resentful saying that. Being the optimistic type, it was rare for him to say such gloomy words. However, what they just been through was a bit too traumatic even for him. Francis was on the same boat, considering how he hung his head at hearing the words.

Out of the blue though, there was definitely something that was catching their attention. It sounded a lot like a car engine, coming from the other side of the bridge. It was not particularly long, but considering how Louis could not walk to save his life, Francis had to do something. Curiosity was getting to all of them after all.

"Don't move alright?" Louis flavors his fellow male teammate a glare, obviously not taking too lightly to that joke. Francis did not seem to care much though, as it had been a while since he was able to make any. "I'll go check it out."

"Be careful man." Louis sent his friend off with a concern, which flew right through the biker's head. Life was supposed to be lived after all, why bother right now? Of course, that thought was what he would have though, if today did not happen. Right now, he simply nodded and silently walked to the other side of the bridge in order to catch a glimpse of what was happening on the far side.

As he strolled leisurely across the vast open steel construction, Francis was torn on whether he would treat what was going to happen as eager or not. Shrugging, he simply dropped his gun and approached the last of the thick cables holding up what he was walking on right now. He saw nothing as of yet, and it took a few steps down the stairs for him to be able to spot at individual. What he saw first was a pony tail, and a rather emotional face, climbing up the stairs near him. The biker grinned and leaned on the catwalk in order to take a better look at that individual. It was female, seemingly his age, African American most likely, wearing a pink T-shirt and sporting blue jeans. He craned his eyebrow, as he did not expect another survivor at all.

"Ugh, I hate stairs." The female exclaimed loud enough for him to hear. She seemed to have climbed quite a long time too, if her apparent perspiration was of any judge.

"Oh my God!" Francis seemed interested in her, at least for the moment. Making witty comments were not out of his original game plan, as he was just trying to catch her attention, basically. "You hate stuff too?"

"Sure." The female shrugged. She seemed rather unsurprised by the appearance of the biker, which he thought was interesting. He was unsure of how long she was out here, but at least she seemed confident about what she was doing. "I never really thought about it, but yeah, I hate things." The female sounded very honest in her replies, which of course did not go by him. "I hate those stairs!"

"I know!" Francis was simply agreeing with her for the heck of it. Still, he had already hate a lot of things, there was simply nothing wrong with hating these stairs along with them.

"I hate that bridge!" The female pointed at it indigently.

"It's so stupid!" Francis was not really thinking about what he said at this point.

"I hate your vest!"

"What now?" He paused momentarily, digesting what had just been said. A lot of thoughts passed through his head, but one came out of his mouth as he groaned. "I don't think this is gonna work out."

As he turned his head and walked off indignantly, he could have heard the voices of others appearing, which inevitably drawn his attention back to the stares which the black female came from. Before long, there were four people staring at him. There was a young man, looking around, in a white T-shirt, his cap barely hanging on his head. Francis quickly deemed him as too goofy to care. Next to him was another male, middle aged, putting himself in a luxurious suit and rigid. There was something about that man which irritated Francis, but he could not quite put his finger on it. Ignore was his action of choice, as he continued onto the last person. This one was quite big, African American as well, having what seemed like a school baseball team uniform on him. Out of the group of four, the biker decided that it was his best bet just to stick to his original interest.

"So, you, who are these friends of yours?" He thrown out a rather questionable inquiry and expected the female to catch, which she did.

"Well, my name is Rochelle." The woman answered, not keeping anything back at all, which Francis nodded that he could get used to. "This is Coach." She pointed the big man "This here is Nick." Then to the man in the suit "And finally, Ellis."

"What wonderful names you all have." Nick was the one who narrowed his eyes, obviously not appreciating the jab at all. He had already disliked the biker from the first time they set eyes on each other, and nothing is going to change that now.

"Bite us." Francis seemed to be taken aback by such a retort from the well-suited man. Perhaps it was not wise to judge a person on their looks after all. "What is your divine identity then?"

"The name's Francis." He seemed to take pride in what he said, which the others did not quite seem to be in an understanding. Ignoring their reactions, he continued. "I'm a hard ass biker around these parts. You should listen to me."

"Thanks but no thanks, Francis." Rochelle crossed her arms in front, obviously not buying what Francis had spoken. It was natural after all, considering how she might just insulted him by hating his vest. It could not have been avoided though, since she actually hated it!

"Look man, we're just trying to get across the bridge." Coach seemed like he had enough of this nonsensical drabble and wanted things to be done. He and his group had been travelling for quite sometime now and not much of what they had seen were pleasant. He knew they had no time for this. "Can you lower it for us?"

"Sorry to disappoint you, big man." Francis grinned at that, thinking high and mighty of his helpful self. Of course, he was the only person who could have been like that, since the others were all standing there rolling their eyes, with the sole exception of Ellis, whose attention was occupied by things more fitting of his interests. "But the generator that is used to control this bridge has already broken down. Even if I wanted to there's nothing I could do."

"Damn it." Rochelle threw a curse at the air, which to him was, at the very least, earning his undivided attention. "Is there any way to fix that?"

"You could traverse the underground tunnel to the other side and restart the thing for yourself." Francis was surprised at himself being so helpful. Perhaps it was because of the apocalyptic situation that this side of him was revealed. Either that or he was just hungry, and it was getting to him. "I don't recommend it, but that's like the only thing I can help you with."

"Fine, we'll take what we can get." Coach nodded to show his approval. The group gazed on him questionable looks, but they really did not have much of a choice. "Will you be coming with us?"

"Nah, I got my own people to attend to." Francis was definitely serious as he said that. Talking with these guys were fun and games, but he still had three people, which used to be four, to help. There was no way he could leave them as they are now.

"I see." Coach seemed understanding, which was no less than the biker expected. If there was anything he could give them as an advice right now, it would be "be careful not to die", but it was not like anyone needed to be told that. "Thanks for your help anyways."

"No big, man." They were seriously sick of his jokes by now, as it was shown by the scowl on everyone's faces. Francis scoffed, disapproving. He left them to their own devices afterwards, returning to the people who would get his sense of humor. It was a rather tedious walk back, even more so how he remembered that he left his rifle somewhere on the other side when he had already made half the trip back. Grunting, he had no choice but to come back and get it, which was a chore that would soon to be taken out on Louis later, the biker noted.

"Hey man, you're back." Soon enough, he had reached his group, or what was left of it. Louis obviously did not move anywhere, his pistol still in hand. Zoey did not either, as she seemed to be in the exact position which Francis remembered her. "What was it?"

"It was another group of four." That was enough to snap Zoey out of her trance, as she steered her head towards the speaking man. Francis wanted to snap at her, but decided against it. Usually he would have, but it would not help anyone. Instead, he simply continued with the story. His two teammates knew how to take his stories with a grain of salt though, especially when something along the lines of "King Francis" got out of his mouth. Still, they got the point.

"I do hope they get to the other side." Louis, as always, said that with clear hope in his mind. There was no reason to lose it again, since that would be simply disastrous, considering how he had already lost someone else important today. However, there was something else that he realized. "Hey Zoey, if they're going to get here to lower the bridge; we should move the sail boat to the other side first."

"Alright…" It was Zoey's first words after a rather annoying period of time, at least in Francis' opinion. Of course, Louis was just happy to see her being responsive for once. It was like talking to a brick wall before, when he tried to stir up a conversation while Francis was gone, so this was definitely an improvement. "You stay here and cover us. Francis, come with me."

"Who died to make you queen?" Louis shook his head to Francis' undignified words. Even the "hard-ass" biker himself realized his mistake soon after. However, that did not mean he could have avoided the killer glare coming from the eyes of the black-haired girl. Hate was within Zoey's eyes, with the passion of a cold-blooded killer. Francis gulped and stiffened his reflexes, not knowing what to do with that murderous glare. Only when Zoey turned and left did his body loosened and he could finally breathe. "Man that was stupid."

"Yeah, even for you." The biker spared a quick glare of his own at the injured man before following Zoey's pace down toward the staircase. It did not take them long to get down to ground level, where there were still countless bodies of Infected blocking their way around. It was a bit distasteful to walk on those, but they had no better plan. It took them a while to navigate their way around, but the method worked nonetheless.

"Hey Zoey, I'm sorry about that." Francis apologized. If anything, he would not be surprised if Zoey would turn around with her Assault Rifle and put a few bullets through his blabbering mouth. With that in mind, he was thankful when she turned around with a sad expression, but not angry by any means. The biker motioned his sight towards a warehouse near the generator, bringing the girl's attention there. "Do you… I mean… want to…?"

"Let's just get this done first." Zoey knew what he was talking about. After all, she saw it with her own eyes; there she would never be able to forget that horrible sight. Still, she had her priorities straight, since that was what people expected of her now. Sentimental things could wait; else a lot of sacrifices that day would have been pointless. "Come on Francis."

The two of them made their way to the boat thereafter. It was the very same as when they first saw it, but their moods had changed dramatically since then. No one commented on anything, as Zoey silently hoisted up the sails and put it through the bridge's underpass, moving it to the other side, so that should the bridge came down again they would have had a clear path to the open sea. The boat was then steered onto land, as Francis and Zoey stepped off and onto dry land once again.

"So Zoey…" The girl motioned silence as the biker never finished his sentence. She did not want to hear it, considering how she was fully aware of what he was going to say.

"Just get back on the bridge with Louis." Zoey's command got through loud and clear, even though Francis did not want to attend to it. However, her stern voice and stiffened expression indicated that she did not want to deal with anymore headaches for the rest of the day, so the biker knew that it would be better just to leave her alone.

"If you don't come back in fifteen minutes, I'm coming down here to find you, alright?" Francis assured Zoey of his support. The Infected has already made themselves sparse long ago, so he did not think too much of whether the girl needed back up or not. He was still saying that for himself to stay on track though.

"I'll remember that."

With that, the two departed. Francis climbing up the stairs while Zoey headed into the warehouse. Her eyes blurry with tears, the girl felt like the world had just fallen down on her. It was the same feeling she had been experiencing gurgling up her throat all this time, ever since she lost her companion. Walking slowly into the dark space inside the dimly lit house, she saw exactly what she expected. However, it did not made things any easier for her to swallow. In front of her was the sight of Bill - the Vietnam veteran, their group's leader and her second father - dead, lying on a pool of his own blood. He went out flaring, that she was assured of. At least his body was not torn apart by the Tanks; that she was thankful for at the very least. Feeling weak in the knees, Zoey broke down and the urge to barf stirred up within her. She gagged up what's left in her stomach onto the cold floor, trying her best to stop. None of what she tried worked, unfortunately. Soon, she found herself crying endlessly. Her broken voices chimed through the wind and echoed across the darkness. It was simply mortifying for her to break down like this, but she did not care. She just wanted to cry her heart out. It was a full five minutes, until the cries eased off, and she realized that hers was not the sole one.


	2. Cryin'

**To tell you the truth, the only reason that this story took so long to get up here was that because I update all of my stories at once, so things got a little clunky along the way. That little road bump has been removed, however, and here is chapter 2, just because. Also, kudos to those who got the reference (I don't expect anyone to though).**_  
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_Just a note: I still strongly advise you to read "the Sacrifice" comic of L4D by VALVe if you haven't already, since if you only played the game some of the events in the story would not make much sense._

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_Chapter 2: Cryin'_

"Is that a Witch?" The thought raced through Zoey's mind. She could barely comprehend her own explanation as her body stiffened. She hated when it got to that point. Usually she would be able to fight bloody zombies and decapitating heads like no problem, but every time she was pulled away from a seemingly silent situation she would always froze up. It reminded her of the first time she had came across a Witch, when Bill was quick enough to pull her away from its deadly claws. As Zoey had already silenced, the crying, which was mistaken to be hers only a minute ago, continued to echo through the cold interior of the abandoned warehouse. She knew that it was a Witch by this point, because there would be no way a mere human was able to survive three consecutive horde attacks and still live to cry about it.

"Can I take it?" Zoey was now forcing her body movements to be silent as she carefully weighed her options. She could try and crawl away from the site and get Francis to come down her to finish that Infected off. However, should her movements be heard and startled up the Witch, then she was going to die for sure. Gulping, Zoey felt like she needed to at least learn about the location of the enemy first. Tugging her flash light away into her inner pocket compartment, hands still holding onto the Assault Rifle, she slowly and noiselessly stuck her head around the steel cold contraption behind in front of her, in order to take a good look at where she thought the crying was coming from.

Not far from her eye sight, which was rather splendidly kept, was a slim figure hiding itself within the darkness. Still, there was no doubt to Zoey that the crying was coming from there. Retracting herself back out of sight, she crafted up a plan in her head. The Witch was not too close, but had vision of where she would be going through should she decided to depart from the stockroom. When she came in, she was not noticed though, which she considered as rather odd, taken into account the fact that she was not at all inaudible in her entrance and her flash light was still on at that point. Contemplating on the subject, Zoey realized that she needed to act fast. If she took too long, Francis would go looking for her and might set off the Witch, putting both of them in danger. Looking over to her right, Bill's lifeless body was still there. She felt like doing what he should have done, and nodded.

"Clank," was the noise of Zoey's spare quarter being thrown off to the far edge of the granary, which she used to attract the Witch. This had worked before, and she hoped it would again. Her Assault Rifle now mounting under her arms, she had a clear shot of where her coin was dispatched to. If she handled this well enough, the Witch would not even know what hit her, and Zoey would be able to take down the fearsome foe from behind without risking herself. Soon enough, the crying stopped. Rustles could be heard from Zoey's left side, getting closer and closer to where she was. Cold sweat started to drip off her back, as the grip around the gun's trigger tightened.

The dark figure she spotted before was now strolling towards where she had expected it. Now that it was brought into the limelight, it became rather compliant to the surrounding, not acting out as a normal Witch at night would have. Zoey could now see her enemy clearly, being exactly what she had expected. The Witch was, obviously, female, long, dirty claws growing on top the fingers, clothes almost completely torn. However, Zoey could only take a look at the Witch from the back, considering where it was heading. What she noticed, however, was not the usual deadly features that could tear her into pieces in an instant, but rather the figure of the Witch itself. It was slender, curvy, unlike the normal dead-skinny ones that she sees everyday, proportionate and hips swaying while walking. It was unreal, at least to her.

"Eh?" Zoey's eyes widened, in silent, when she heard the Witch spoke. Witches do not speak, as far she knew. This was impossible, at least to her understanding. Ever since the first time she saw one, all she ever heard from them were agonizing cries and the tormenting scream they let out when they rip through flesh. What if Witches could have spoken all this time? Zoey wondered. However, she was not quite sure whether such trivial thing was worth risking her life over, as she was not firing right now, as she should have been. The Witch bended down and picked up the coin in her hands, inspecting it as some outlandish object. At least that was what Zoey could have guessed staring at it from behind.

"Hey," The Witch turned around almost immediately, sensing danger. What she saw was a young girl, around college age, black locks dropping to her shoulders, eyes determined and hands with her gun dropped to her side. Zoey had taken a big leap in doing what she did, because should the Witch turn frantic now and attack her, she would not be able to react and save herself in time. The reason she did this was unknown even to her, but perhaps it was because of not wanting bloodshed on an unnecessary battle. The Witch had already fascinated her after all, and Zoey was ready to be surprised again. "You can speak."

Surprisingly, the Witch practically fled at the sight, withdrew into the corner, arms covering her body, as if afraid of being exposed. Zoey sighed. Whatever the reasons, it seemed that the Infected in front of her had not the urge to kill her, at least just yet. For the moment, she used the opportunity to take a good look at the Witch, more specifically her features. For an Infected, she was rather good looking, eyes not as red as the others, skin not partially torn by random self-injury. If she had lost the clothes and the claws, Zoey might actually think she would be quite pretty. The Witch took notice of that, nonetheless. She seemed drawn back, rather scared of the sight of the gun. "Are you going to shoot?"

"Not as long as you don't suddenly scream at me and attack." Zoey was not sure if she was still right in the head, but she approached the Witch regardless. For all she knew, it was rather harmless, even though all the past two months of experiences had taught her otherwise. Curiosity was getting to her, no doubt. The Witch seemed to retract even more, which astonished Zoey even more. As her hand reached out, the Infected avoided it like the plague. "Hey, don't be scared… I'm not here to hurt you."

"Really?" The Witch stared at Zoey when she heard that. Her defenses eased up a little, waiting for an answer. Zoey shrugged. She might have had the urge before, but not anymore.

"Well I don't suppose you look like you will harm me." Smiling, she pulled away temporarily, giving the other some much needed space. The Witch nodded to show her understanding, but she refused to move out of her position. It slightly amused the human girl, as she felt like the Witch in front of her was just like a kid, but a big one. She could possibly have been a teenager before becoming an infected, for all Zoey knew.

"I won't." The Witch's word eased off the rest of Zoey's worries. If she could take her words for it, then there was nothing to be afraid of anymore. Whoever this Witch is, she was not a threat. "Who are you?"

"I'm Zoey." Zoey extended her hand towards the Witch, hinting of a serene stand between them. The Witch fidgety took her hand, trying its best not to harm Zoey with its claws. "What is your name?" The Witch simply shook her head. It could have said something, but it did not. That got Zoey into thinking, and she came to a rather humble solution. "You don't remember your name?"

"No." The Witch said exactly what Zoey expected to hear. It was not so hard to guess, considering what she had heard from the doctor back in Millhaven. The infection obviously does SOMETHING to a person's system to be able to cause them to mutate into a Witch. There was no question that it would affect their minds as well. Zoey did not know what she was getting at, but the blurry line between humans and infected in her head was starting to blur. She could not point out what she would feel after learning the information that she just did, but there was something she needed to do first.

"Would it be alright if I were to give you a name?" Zoey asked with a friendly smile, as much as she could mutter up at this moment. Needless to say there was obviously still something bothering her, but she did not want to show it.

"I… don't have a problem with that." It did what seemed to resemble a shrug. At least it was the answer that was sure to make Zoey happy.

"Alright then, I will call you Cindy!" Zoey cheerfully exclaimed. She was downright thrilled to be able to do such a thing, almost as it was naming a pet. She knew better though, but she could not help it. The Witch did not seem to mind it, as it smiled back at the girl. That was good enough for Zoey, as from now on she had Cindy to be a friend that she could actually reside to. Bill was more of a father, Francis could never get anything serious and Louis was just too much of a corporate man for her to get close to. It would be great if she actually had a same-sex companion from this point onward, even though that companion might be a Witch. Zoey still had certain doubts, of course. If Bill's death had taught her anything, then it would his motto of "we look after our own". She, Francis and Louis had been through so much together. Now that they have lost Bill, they have to look out for each other more so than before. Cindy might be harmless now, but who is to say it would stay that way forever? Even if it did, what would Louis and Francis think about Zoey bringing back "a friggin' Witch", as it would be quoted from Francis. It might tear their team apart, and she would hate that. The only thing she could do now was to take her time to think of a good resolution while figuring out away to hide Cindy from the two males. "Come on Cindy, let's go."

"Where are we going?" The Witch seemed rather dubious of Zoey's plan. Truth be told, she was dubious of everything at this point, so it was perfectly reasonable. Zoey simply smiled as an assurance, and Cindy took that as a good enough indication of good will.

The two female skipped through the essentially barren walk way and towards the boat, consciously avoiding the eye sight of the people who might be looking for them on the bridge down. Zoey knew that she was already been gone for a while, and should she not return soon then Francis would surely go down and look for her. Having him meet Cindy at this point would be really bad, considering how it might startle both of them and spark up some very unwanted injuries. Zoey recalled Francis telling her that there was another group of survivors passing through the underground, trying to get to this side of the bridge. It would also be undesirable should they somehow meet up with Cindy along the way, as who was to say whether they would open fire or not. Should they do make it; Zoey would have to find a good way to hide up her new friend. There was only one place that she would be comfortable with putting Cindy into, and that was the sailboat she and Francis just moved. There was nothing against that notion at the moment, so the girl went with that plan. She led Cindy into the boat and pondered on where to put the Witch to. After a minute of thought, she decided that the best decision would probably be having Cindy hanging around the back row of the boat, so that people could keep an eye on her. No matter how much she hated to admit it, Zoey knew that there was still a chance of Cindy somehow losing her mind somewhere along the way and turn into a real Witch, those that she usually ignore unless have to be shot for them to stay alive.

"Where are you going?" Zoey wanted to pay no head to Cindy's inquiry, but she could do no such thing. Time was of the essence, but if she wanted to trust Cindy in the future, she would have to earn her trust first.

"You are to stay with the boat, alright?" Zoey's face and voice turned serious, as it was also what the Witch picked up. She was vaguely aware of the magnitude of importance which the human girl was speaking of. Cindy just wanted to stay safe nevertheless. "I have to go back to my friends to do something. When we're done, I will come back with them, and then we'll get away from here, is that alright?"

"I… you're going to leave me here?" Zoey sighed. She did not want to deal with this, but she had to. Whatever had affected Cindy's perception of the world, it had done a damn good job. She wanted to wrap things up, at least as far as she could before Francis turn up.

"I have to go back and do a job. If you wanted to help me, just stay here and be quiet alright?" Zoey was trying her best to get Cindy to understand the point. It was getting to the Witch, ever so slowly. It looked less insecure now, even if just a little bit. "We WILL come back. Wait for me, remember?"

"Ok…"

Zoey had no more time to wave goodbye to Cindy after leaving the Witch in the back compartment of the ship. She hoped that it would at least be able to take care of itself. Furthermore, gun shots could already be heard from the distance, which means that the other survival group must had already been able to get themselves through the sewers and would approach here soon. They would predictable have to get themselves into a fight with the infected, so she must get ready.

"Hey Francis!" She quickly spotted the biker walking around nearby, obviously trying to find her. He turned his head, and smiled his worries away after seeing her. "Man, am I glad to see you."

"Did you run into some troubles or something, Zoey?" Francs grinned up to his ears. He did not want to admit that he was troubled by her absence, but of course Zoey could figure that out by herself, considering he was here looking for her now.

"Something like that, but it is fine now." Zoey shrugged, her hand still holding the Assault Rifle. Her encounter was Cindy was rather frightening at first, but there was no way she could tell Francis that. There was of course, other priorities that they needed to take care of at the moment. "You heard that right?"

"Yeah, Rochelle and the others are coming here." Francs nodded in understanding. He was at least very aware of the scope of the situation. "If they were to lower the bridge then we are going to have quite a fight on our hands."

"No kidding." Zoey's grumble was clear of meaning to the biker's ears. The last time they tried to move the bridge; it took a man off their squad and a significant amount of effort for them to be able to survive until now. It was going to be hard to do that again, even with the help of the newcomers."

"I think they may need our help." Francis was not sure who he meant that to when he said so, but rather apparent his concerns were. Zoey understood perfectly what he was talking about. "If we did, maybe they don't have to… your call, Zoey."

"I say they will need our help." The girl led the two up on to the ladder up the raised bridge, where Louis was waiting for them. She seemed to be lost in thoughts for a few moments. Either that or she intended to explain her plans when the three of them meet up.

"Good to see you again Zoey." Louis' smile was most welcoming, as the other two had expected it to be. Francis might hate to admit it, but the man's optimism was already starting to grow on him. "So, what now?"

"I say we'll help them lower the bridge." Zoey stated, and Francis nodded in agreement. Louis was not sure of what his thoughts on the decision was, but he was for whatever the other two was with regardless.

"Well, I'm fine with that." He shrugged as to ease off the tension. "You know though, I'm kinda unable to move at the moment, and I'm not too sure how much of a help I would be able to be."

"Actually, we would not join the fight directly." Zoey's reply was rather unexpectedly cold, which caught the two men off guard. They said nothing however, waiting for her to finish. "We are not going to risk our lives for this group, not to mention how we couldn't even know how much we can trust them. We will provide cover fire and some supplies, but that's it."

"Sounds like a plan." Francis nodded. It sounded reasonable enough to him. "I just gotta ask: where are we providing cover fire FROM? This bridge is going to be lowered soon, and Louis ain't actually too bright and sun shine on running at this point."

"Rub it in, will ya?" The black male shot the biker a glance, but they all knew that it was just genuine concern hidden under all that teasing.

"Actually, do you remember that balcony where the mounted machinegun is located?" The two male nodded to show their following what Zoey was talking about. "We would be there, close enough to the scene to help, and far enough from the reach of any stray zombies trying to get to us. Louis would be in charge of the gun, if you don't mind."

"Not to worries." Louis gave her a thumb up to show his agreement.

"Alright, Francis, you help Louis get there. I'm going to get some supplies up to the vantage point. We're in for a real fight!"


	3. The Passing

__**Perhaps I have well taken my own abilities for granted. From now on, I would only find less time to accomplish my tasks, attributed to the so-called scheduling program that I was forced to adapt to. Nevertheless, it is highly unlikely that it would affect the quality of my works, only the amount of time it takes for me to put one out. Then again, it might not, you'll never know. Admittedly, however, I have to say that my initial assesment of how I might be able to handle my time was wrong on various levels. All of the above has nothing to do with the story itself, but it's too late now is it?**

* * *

_Chapter 3: The Passing_

"Hey!"

"Oh man; am I glad to see you!"

Nothing short of excitement were present as Francis spotted the group of four coming up from the tunnel on the far side. They seemed a lot more beat up than he remembered, but that was to be expected. The fact that all four of them made it through in one piece proves that they were definitely not behind on the original group.

"So, what is the plan?" Louis inquired out of the blue. Naturally, considering how the group from Savannah never met him before, they had not much obligation to answer. However, considering the fact that he was obviously on their side, nothing was lost in exchanging information.

"Well, you three are going to help us lower the bridge, right?" Coach spoke up to them. Francis, Zoey and Louis were stationed on top of a nearby balcony, directly facing the bridge. They have successfully gathered up supplies without a hitch, so everything was going according to plan so far. However, that was not the hard part.

"Yeah," Zoey nodded, as the expressions of the new survivors cheered up. This time, nothing turned against them in the end, and they were happy to be able to continue with their previous arrangements. Of course, there was always a twist. "However, we don't have the power to do that at the moment."

"What do you mean?" Rochelle's face questioned the validity of that last comment. The news reporter, as anyone else in her position, did not like the part where they still had to do more things in order to start rolling again. As if the trip through the sewer pipes filled with infecteds and hazardous traps were not enough, now they had to deal with this too.

"When we used the generator to raise the bridge before, it quickly ran out of power afterwards." Zoey continued on with her explanation. She was rather defiant about people's questioning looks befell upon her own. It was high time she took matters into her own hands, since there was no one around to tell her what to do anymore. "So, you need to restart it."

"For your convenience, it's right over there." Francis could not help but chimed in, finger pointing at the nearby mechanical contraption that appeared like it was made during the 60s. As far as generators went, it was about the most disheartening model they had ever come across, and its faults were nothing less that accursed.

"Alright, so what do you suggest us do now?" The well-suited man named Nick had his hand on the machine, evidently analyzing the state of the device. For reasons others could not quite place, he appeared to be rather informed about things like these. Someone had to be, of course. "This thing is old as Coach," the physical instructor near him shot him an annoyed glance, but Ellis clearly was amused, chuckling uncontrollably "but it works. It needs a decent amount of gas to power up though."

"Are we going to have to scavenge those again?" Rochelle sighed. The last time they did that; their bodies were almost buried alive in Liberty Mall. It did not help that farm boy Ellis hesitated to shoot the head off his once-not-quite-dead-role model Jimmy Gibbs Jr., almost letting him set the entire on fire with his oil-slick costume. They did not even know where to gather up gas cans around here. However, considering that this actually was quite a modern city, things like that should not be too hard to come across.

"I think so." Ellis, in his best serious expression he could mutter, stated. It did not quite work though, as there were things that were better suited for adults after all. "We just gather up them gases and be done with this, right?"

"Ah, gases, classic." Francis rather appreciated the young man's sense of surplus humor. He was somewhat getting sick of people being all serious around these parts. Zoey shot him a look, which he responded by simply shrugging at her. "Yeah, that's basically it."

"Small question, how exactly are you going to help us, sitting on that balcony and all?" Rochelle narrowed her eyes. She recalled Francis telling her that there were going to be aids coming from his group once they made it through, but the situation, especially Louis' conditions, made her think otherwise. "Besides, isn't your friend there not quite fit to move?"

"Don't worry about me." The middle-aged manager simply waved to her. Their introduction was long overdue. "I take you already know Francis right? Well I'm Louis, and that's Zoey."

"Nice to meet y'all." Ellis, completely oblivious to the disproving look of his fellow Savannah resident, happily returned the gesture. Others were rather amused by his innocence, but then again it did not matter that much. "My name is Ellis; this is Coach, Rochelle and Mr. Cranky, Nick."

"Seriously?" Nick was obviously aware of how his cynicism clashed with Ellis' upbeat idiocy, but he really did not expect the boy to call him out like that. Then again, he really did not know the guy that well yet either. "Never mind, let's get to the point. How are you going to help us if you're up there like that?"

"We'll be providing cover fire." Zoey coldly affirmed. It shook the others a bit, considering how her attitude was just warm and understanding just now. "That's it."

"What, you mean you're not going to come down here?" Coach took that rather harsh. He was not sure of whether to put it off as her being arrogance or simply unreasonable, but he sure that things would be better if the other three, perhaps not Louis, come down and actively participate in the hunt for the aforementioned objects. "Instead you'll just sit there on your ass?"

"Watch it, Coach." Francis seemed annoyed by the gym teacher's reaction to Zoey's words. However, Zoey herself motioned the biker to stop. If it was anything, it was her fight.

"Understand that Louis cannot move in his current condition, and I am not going to risk his well-being by leaving him here." The sternness in her voice indicated that she was not in the mood to do anyone any favors. She had already made her decision long ago, and there was simply no use in trying to cogitate otherwise. "We are only to give your support and cover fire when we can, and not directly going down there with you. Just be grateful that we are to help you at all."

"You are scary, you know that?" Ellis was subtly paying attention to Zoey in the mean time, and had said the first thing that came to his mind. It was a fascination, in his opinions, but the way he described it certainly went the wrong way. "Not in a bad way, I mean… you're still a girl and…"

"It's best to shut it, farm boy." Nick halted his companion's tripping mouth, as to not create anymore tension between the two groups, which would be the last thing they would want right now. "So, alright, we're down with your plan. Is there anything else you need to tell us?"

"Right, that generator runs loud." Zoey established perhaps the most important piece of the problem. Of course, she had lived through its consequences once, and she knew what it took. "Really, really loud, and I'm sure you know what that means."

"Right, do our thing, and do it fast." Rochelle cocked her gun up, as the rest of the survivors. They obviously noticed how expedient the ammo pile was placed, just near the generator. It was to help them pack things up should everything runs low.

"We're ready when you are." Louis stationed himself to take control of the mounted gun. It was the most powerful piece of firearm they could find right now, and who else would be better to arm it than a man who could not move. Zoey nodded in agreement, her M16 Assault Rifle in hand. Francis grabbed his Hunting Rifle as well. The other group began to patch up their apparent wounds and stock up on ammos and carriage. A few minutes before they were all fully prepared and eager to move out.

"Alright, let's go." Coach declared, as the four set out to find the canisters lying somewhere around town. Zoey stood still on the balcony, her weapon armed with laser sight quite ready, looked to the boat, where she had left Cindy to her own devices. She just hope that when the horde breaks out, the Witch would not be agitated and draw in other infecteds. Zoey had already taken precaution and move the boat far off sight, but then again they could not know of what would really happen. Soon enough, the other four returned with a gas can in hand.

"Get ready." Zoey told them, as all nodded. Nick quickly poured the liquid into the generator, and it started up. The ear-breaking noise came from it as a result was definitely enough to startle everyone, as they knew fully well what was coming.

"Holy shit, that's loud." Rochelle commented before the first sighting of the responding horde of infected appear at the far end of the horizon. They were coming, and the four needed to complete their task as soon as possible. "Come on, let's go."

Without indication, Louis' machine gun started firing. From every direction around them, countless of infecteds were swarming in, probably the same that the original group failed to clear out last time. Stray bullets were everywhere, as blood and dead bodies dropped like flies. Soon, the group of four came back with another can, and into the generator it went. The contraption continued to work, but it only got louder in the process. The group stock up quickly and set out once more. All of them knew that with anything this loud, it would only be a matter of time when the Tanks appear. However, before then, all worked hard to clean out as much of the commons as possible.

"Zoey!" Francis' words immediately interrupted the girl's train of thoughts. Their reactions had been sharpened throughout the weeks of fighting, and she knew what to look out for. "Smoker!"

Dodging with complete intuition, the extended infected tongue missed her by barely a few inches. Francis was quick on his fingers as well, taking the enemy out within two shots from the scope. Sniping was not really his thing, but Louis'. However, this was definitely not the time to discuss on his skills. Louis was still focused on running the infected wave right through with his mounted gun, and he seemed to be enjoying it as well.

"Good job you two." Zoey's smile was much needed for the guys' motivation, as if it lighted up the entire scene. Her being mostly positive all the time helped immensely as well. "Now come on, we have a job to do!"

One by one, the other group come back with gas cans, as the bridge slowly lowered itself down. However, it was definitely too slow in their opinions, especially considering how they were busy on-hand with shooting their ways to a seemingly endless amount of oppositions. After the 5th can, what must come had come.

"TANK!" Zoey screamed, as all of them opened fire on the huge monstrosity charging at them with inhuman speed. It had distracted them from the threats closer on hand, however. A Jockey had managed to jump Ellis and steer him away. As the other four was forced to pursue, the Tank was not yet dead. "Francis, give me fire."

"Here" Zoey, by all virtues of strength she could muster, flung the Molotov bottle at the Tank chasing after the other four. It was a direct hit, as its flesh immediately caught on fire and slowed it down significantly, albeit its killing intent was anything but shaken. The Jockey was soon disposed of, but it had not gone down without dealing severe damage to its victim. As Ellis had to stop and patch himself up, it only made people's job harder than it already was. A lot of the infecteds got closer than one would like, inflicting damage too fast for the others to react to. It took considerably longer than they would have liked for everyone on the ground to get back on their feet, but the supplies had already thinned out. "Damn it, hey guys, come here!"

As the 7th gas can went straight down the power-hungry machine, Rochelle also received the original group's last bottles of pills thrown from the balcony.

"Thanks guys." She wasted no time before moving out again, but her gratefulness was clear. Zoey only gave the other female a quick nod before going back to shooting. It was exhausting, if one could say so. It was definitely not the worst fight they had gone through, but it was much more tiring since everything was being dragged on, and the time it took to find just one can seem like forever. Zoey, being on the balcony, was unaware of where the other group went to in order to get those cans, but she knew that its availability was being thinned out fast. Should they run out of gas cans before the bridge fully lowered, everyone was going to have a bad time.

Half an hour from when they started, and it was already the 11th can, yet the bridge was still several feet above the line they would like. Zoey was sure that the other group went into the warehouse where Bill's body was several times, but she knew that she no time to think of such trivial matters, when her job was only getting more difficult by the minute. The more gas it was fed, the louder the generator become. As the 12th canister arrived, so did two Tanks, and they look rather pissed.

"To hell with this." As the group on the ground was busy not getting themselves swarmed by hundreds of infecteds, Zoey knew that there was little chance of them handling this if it continued. "Louis, how many throwables do we have left?"

"Two jars, four grenades and five bottles." Louis seemed rather distressed. The Tank were coming in fast, but still too far for his clunky aiming gun to be of any use. He could not go full throttle on those on the ground either, as it would severely risk hitting the other four in the process. "We don't have much ammo left either."

"Damn," Zoey had only one plan in mind. Should they let the Tanks approach the generator, they could punch it broken and everything was all for nothing. However, if they follow the other group as they gather the cans, it would disappear from view and the three on the balcony could no longer provide cover fire. There was never a time when they could have taken on two tanks at once, and this did not seem like the first time for it either. Determined, she had gone through with her guts. "Guys, get to the other gas cans!"

"There are two Tanks on our tail!" Coach screamed as loud as he could without straining his own heart, while his hand was still busy slicing off infecteds in melee range.

"We'll take care of it!" All six others stared at the girl, but she was not going to let anyone talk back. Time was of the essence, and there were none of left should she did not get her idea to work. "Just go!"

The four had no other choice but to trust her, as they made a blood path and ran off to the far side, as the Tanks drew closer. Zoey tucked her gun on the back, eyes to her companions.

"Cover me." Louis and Francis had no idea what she was about to do, but they knew it was going to be quite insane. Then again, they had no hope of stopping her regardless, so they only nodded. "Throw the fire only when you can hit both the Tanks at once, alright?"

Without waiting for confirmation, Zoey was off. Francis had to switch to an AK-47 in order to do cover work better. The girl grabbed the weapon she had no plan on using up until now, and swung herself down the nearby truck's top straight form the balcony. In her hand was nothing but a Chainsaw, fresh and running like a mad murderer. Its noise attracted the other infecteds quite well, as they gather up around. The two Tanks did the same, charging at her instead.

"This is for Bill, you overgrown bastards." Zoey charge directly at them with her Chainsaw in hand, cutting down all the nearby annoyances and straight to the Tanks. Francis was reluctant on throwing the Molotov, afraid it would hit Zoey. However, only when she was dangerously close to the two building-sized enemies did her realize her plan. As Zoey abandoned the Chainsaw as the Tanks got close, she screamed. "Now!"

Moments later, the fire erupted on the ground, catching the Chainsaw in the progress. The weapon failed catastrophically, igniting the fuel within and creating an explosion rivaling that of five propane cisterns. It obliterated all the nearby commons, while making the Tanks stumble, letting Louis unleash his machine gun on them. Zoey was thrown a few feet forward by the detonation, landing on her chest. Her skin was bruised heavily, but it protected her Assault Rifle from sustaining heavy damage in the process. At times like this, one could never ask for everything to get out unscathed. As the Tanks fall, Zoey made her way back onto the balcony, one arm grabbing the other.

"Are you alright?" Francis eased his stance as the girl returned. She gave him quite a scare down there, because for a moment he thought she was going to be another Bill. "That was reckless girl, where did you learn how to do that?"

"I learned from the best." Zoey tried her best to smile. She noticed the other group was beginning to return as well. They were flabbergasted to see the amount of carnage surrounding the two Tanks' bodies. "Welcome back"

"How did you?" Rochelle could not believe her eyes. Her gaze raced to Zoey, to see that the teenage girl was in pain. "Why are you hurt?"

"It's a long story, but we don't have time for that right now." Zoey tried her best to stay composed, even though her entire body was still shaken up from being so close to the explosion. She could barely hold her gun up right at the moment. "Go, you're almost done."

"Thanks!" Ellis spoke for the rest of his group before going on his way again. Louis seemed concerned about Zoey most of all, however.

"You should take a rest Zoey." The middle-age man was unable to operate the mounted gun at the moment due to its overheating, but he still had a Rifle to the side should his aid be needed. "We can take care of this. We have enough Molotovs for five of them sons of bitches."

"After this, we can rest however we want Louis." Zoey, leaning on the wall nearby, panted out her words one by one. She was in much pain, but none of her wounds were particularly life-threatening. She seemed even more confident because of it. "Right now, I know we'll look after our own, but I still have my morals."

The other two stayed silent. Soon enough, more gas cans were brought back and they got back to shooting without much thought. Luckily, there were not apparent signs of anymore tanks, and the bridge was almost fully lowered.

"This is the last one." Coach, carrying the 16th canister in his hand, raced to the generator. The bridge was almost touching the ground at this point, and there were no doubt it would be enough after this one. However, there were more dire things that made apparent to them. While the generator worked its last run, the far side of the road was blocked. There were Tanks, a lot of them, obviously drawn by the hideously loud noise the generator was making. "Oh… god."

"With that many road blocks, we would never make it through even if the bridge lowers in time!" Nick exclaimed. He hated situations like this; similar to the 4th time he went to jail. Those were dark memories, and he'd rather not relive them.

"So all of these would be for nothing?" Rochelle was at the end of her rope as well. Even though the commons were already cleared off to a sufficient degree, those numerous tanks would do nothing but make everything so much harder, and neigh impossible, even.

"No back talk." Zoey screamed at them from above, pulling their attention together towards her. In her hand was nothing but an out-of-ammo M16, but she had no plan to give up anytime soon. "All of us had come too far, live through too much to go down like this! Those Tanks won't get here before the bridge is lowered. When that happens, I want you to get your car as soon as possible and floor it. We will take care of the rest."

"Are you sure you can do that?" Ellis stared at her in disbelief. He knew that she was a fascination, but now seemed more of a goddess than anything else. "I mean, you're a girl and all, and you're hurt too."

"Hey farm boy," Zoey put up a mockery smile, assuring her qualifications, as if she needed it. "Didn't your daddy ever tell you to not disrespect a woman?"

The young man was silenced after that, as any other trace of conversation. The generator stopped making noises as it ran out of gas. While the Tanks moved closer, the group of four dashed through the bridge and onto the other side, where their vehicle was waiting. The giants followed them handily, crossing the bridge just as well. When the car started up and moved, it had no choice but to charge right at the Tank.

"Francis, give me the Grenade Launcher." Zoey received said weapon from her companion soon enough. It was a powerful firearm, but they had to tuck it away due to its likelihood of hitting the other survivors in the process. For what reason does Zoey want it now was not clear, but the two men on the balcony knew that they should always trust her. The huge weapon on her shoulder, Zoey fired a shot, over the heads of the Tanks, aiming right at the moving car. It landed in front, propelling the race car onto the air with extreme force, away from reach of the colossal behemoths in hot pursuit and onto safety. As it runs off, the rest knew what to do. All of the fire bottles were tossed onto the bridge, engulfing the infected brutes in their own fiery burial, as all of them dropped not too long after.

The battle had finally concluded. As she was sure that the other four survivors were celebrating within their car, as well as Louis and Francis congratulating each other on a job well done, there was only on thing one Zoey's mind.

Cindy.


	4. Aftermath

**Another update, yes you heard it right. Admittedly, I have been pushing out stories faster than I thought I would be, but that's a good thing, I suppose. It's a great feeling to know that you have not bitten more than you can chew, else it would make for one extremely awkward conversation. Regardless, here is the new chapter, as nothing previously has had anything constructive to do with anything.**

* * *

_Chapter 4: Aftermath_

"Where is Zoey going?"

"Beats me,"

Louis, still a little bit unhappily paralytic, could do nothing but see his female companion off, as the teenager, despite her arrays of injuries, left their post and veered off in the distance. Francis was curious as well, but decided against interfering. They had gone through too much trauma already, and they all needed some rests. Considering how Zoey seemed to be heading to the boat, maybe she just wanted to get a rest on the bed or something, all of which would be fine by the men. They had waited long enough, after all. It had been a full half hour after the other four survivors had escaped through the bridge, drawing what was left of the Infected horde with them, following the ever so loud, once considered manly, noise of the car's engine. The three who stayed behind are now home free, as they had finally accomplished what they came here to do. Francis could see it now, making a home up on Florida Keys, an island resort, no less. He would probably make Louis a butler or something, standing on the beach to flag down cruises of attractive young women apparently lost on the sea, looking for some fun and a place to stay away from the infected. It was what he had always wanted. Of course, such imaginations could only go so far, but it did do a good job to keep his mind occupied, enough to steer his focus away from Zoey, not realizing the fact that the teenage girl was rather hurried in her steps. Louis, however, was fully awake and aware of this fact. However, being currently crippled, he did not have any chances of catching up to her regardless, nor would trying to interrupt Francis' fantasy be of any help.

Zoey, of course, knew about people's suspicion arising should she act out like this. However, she had no mind to pay for those trivial thoughts. Having just fought what would probably be the battle of her life, there would be absolutely no reason for her to worry about anything, but her new found companion's well being. It might have been a witch, but it was the closest thing she had to a friend ever since the death of her parents when the infection spread out. Then there was Bill's sacrifice, which she had been trying to fight emotionally all this time. She would not and could not take another loss. She had to go through too much to have this last ray of hope being taken away from her. However, her injuries were not those of light caliber either. The shockwave from the exploding Chainsaw did a number on her internal organs, not that she was enough of a doctor who really know how to fix those up either. It could turn out to be a pain in the future, but that was not the apparent discomfort she was experiencing right now. Rather the fact that she could not walk fast enough to the boat was bothering her, a lot. As she did, various thoughts raced through her mind. Cindy, regardless of appearance and apparent sanity, was a Witch. She had heard her cry in prior to the engagement, and it was a real risk that she was just in the process of "turning". Worse off, perhaps she was even enraged during the extremely long attack they just endured and ran off somewhere. All of those theories made so much sense, that Zoey was tearing up as she approached the hatch. She has her M16 in hand, but it was not actually cocked, in case she misfired at something. She had all of her trust on this approach, or else her life would be in mortal danger. As the yacht's hatch was opened up, Zoey narrowed her eyes. She was not quite sure whether she left the light on or off when she put Cindy here, but it was definitely not on now. She remembered leaving the Witch at the back, so her hand was firm on the trigger, even though she knew it would not work even if she had fired. It was just for mental preparation for the worst; even though she doubted she would even live through it if it did come to that. Taking a low stance, the teenage girl slowly made her way across the limited pathway, trying her best not to be caught off guard. She heard no crying as of yet, and that helped a bit. Soon enough, she reached the near end of the row boat, and spied what appeared to be the one she was looking for. There was no flash light of any sort, so she had to be careful.

"Cindy?" Her voice was soft and gentle, but it was enough to be heard clearly across the confined chamber. The dark figure turned around, its eyes blazing. Zoey gulped. It was definitely Cindy, but perhaps she had taken a bit too much of trust going into danger like this. The witch turned around, claws made scratching noises as they draped across the floor. The teenage girl slowly reacted by cocking up her rifle, but still indecisive. However, her senses could not react fast enough to the witch's startled motion, dashing towards her with extensive speed and force. Zoey could not do anything but brace for impact, as she had the worst in mind.

"Zoey…" The Witch was doing nothing more than snuggling up to the teenage girl, as the two were on the ground after the collision. She appeared to have been nothing more than agitated, which helped everyone's causes. Zoey sighed, losing a load off her chest. She was seriously considering having to go down fighting just then, considering how absolutely horrifying that situation seemed like. Perhaps all witches had that kind of reaction, and it was a trait, so she should start to learn it, amusingly.

"Hey Cindy…" Not even bothering to get up properly, the teenage girl quietly petted the top of her companion's head. She was kind of cute in that regard, almost like a house cat, a really big one, of course. Zoey could not help but smile quite brightly, knowing that she was no longer in immediate danger nor she had to worry about anything else at this point. The fact that Cindy was still a Witch would be bothering somewhat, but nothing they could not fix in the future, should the opportunity arises. Right now, however, she was simply glad that everything turned out alright for the time being. "How have you been?"

"I was scared." The witch truthfully answered, almost in a weeping fashion. Of course, she had nothing to fear from the common infected, seeing as how they would never target a witch if they had the chance, and being inside the boat severely lessened the probability of being hit by any stray Bile Bombs. "I heard yelling outside, and gun shots, and screams."

"Yeah, that's pretty much what happened." Zoey chuckled at her companion's apparent innocent. She was unaware how long the witch had been, well, a witch, so what it did know about the world around them was beyond her. Regardless, she was taking it with her. Finally finding a need to accomplish, Zoey pressed her arms against the floor and slowly sat up, with Cindy still basically on her front. The witch seemed rather confused at that, as if it could not imagine why Zoey would want to change the way they were there. Soon after, it found the teenage completely up and ready to run, albeit looking a bit unsteady. Cindy could not know what to make of it, but Zoey really did not leave any chances for inquiries. "I'll be back in a few Cindy, there's something I need to do first."

"Are you going to leave me here again?" Those trademark tears swelled upon the flashing red eyes made Zoey flinched a bit, but she knew better than to blindly react to such things. Cindy was still a witch, and she would still have red eyes, those are the things the teenager could not change. At least she could help to not misunderstanding those, anyways.

"NO, Cindy, NO!" Zoey felt like yelling, as if trying her best to get the point across. Any mental trauma for anyone at this point was completely unwelcomed, and she needed to keep Cindy mildly and at her best behavior, for when she would introduce the witch to her teammates on the outside. Of course, there was a part of her that simply did not want to watch the witch cry. It was unnerving, at best. "I'm just going to get some people, and things, before we leave."

"Why do you need to get it?" The witch appeared to simply being difficult. Perhaps it was simply the childish mentality that she was put with. All things considered, she would be passed with being a little girl who wanted mommy's attention all to herself. It was adorable, in Zoey's opinion. "You have me…"

"Look Cindy, you're important to me." Zoey, holding the witch by the shoulder, raised it up in order to get a decent conversation across a well aligned height comparison. She felt unnecessary having to explain this to anyone, but she could not help it. This was a special case after all. "But these guys, they are my family, ok? You would have to get along with them, and they'll have to get along with you as well. We're all going to make this work, and I am not going to leave anyone behind, alright?"

"Ok…" Zoey smiled at Cindy's obedience. She was not going to leave for long anyways, so it was great that the witch could trust her, as it would probably be the base of building any relationships. The teenage felt like rewarding, as she drew close and gave Cindy a warm embrace, which both appreciated after such a long and tiring day. The witch obviously did not want the girl to break it off, but she had to. Zoey waved goodbye, as she jumped up to the deck to get her friends.

"Hey, Zoey's back." Louis pointed out, pulling Francis out of his undying fantasy by the power of his strong voice, that or by the biker's collar. Choking, the white male took a bit of time to recover his senses fully. In true gangster fashion, he decided to not talk about what had just been going on through his mind and simply focusing on the current situation instead. Wiping his eyes, he peered towards the direction of the boat, seeing a familiar teenage girl walking towards the two men, with a noticeable smile on her face. He recalled her leaving not so long a few minutes ago, so there was not much she could have done while there that would put her in such a good mood, unless she needed the privacy to disrobe and then…

"Guys." Once again, Francis' fantasy was discarded in priority of the real world, although he was not quite sure whether he was going anywhere with those thoughts regardless. Zoey was simply strolling, more or less, to where they are positioned on the balcony. It took her no more than a minute to get back to her previous post. She, of course, recognized her teammate's curiosity towards her suddenly upbeat mood. She could not help it though, as she was definitely genuinely happy about how things turned out since their meeting with the other survivors. They had pretty much had things their way since then, and soon this would all end. "How are you leg Louis?"

"It's been gradually healing, although I reckon it would take full week before I can walk again like normal." The man, despite his usual perkiness, was having obvious complications with the fact that his right leg was damaged quite heavily. In fact, it had been one of the many reasons why they could not have been as strong as they could in prior to the battle of the bridge that lead to Bill's death. He had always hated himself for being careless when they checked out the previous running cruise ship that they went through, where he got clawed by numerous witches while trying to get down. "So what's the plan now?"

"We do what we came here for." Zoey stated with confidence behind her words. When the four of them were dispatched off the train and came here, she was rather reluctant of following Bill's ideals considering this infection. However, losing him had taught her quite a few things about survival out here. She had not completely given on her hopes of fighting back yet, of course, but she knew better now. They can no longer do this. They can no longer drape city by city, with any plans ahead except for the guns in their hands, in hope of being rescued by the military. They tried that, it did not work. "We're sailing for Florida Keys, right now."

"Alright, island mansion, here I come!" Francis' sudden outburst in joy amused his teammates quite a bit, considering how he had been extremely unquiet about his apparent dream once they got there. In fact, most of it could be heard when he talked in his sleep. All, of course, lead to even more funny discoveries.

"We're moving the guns first." Zoey brought what she can with her, while putting all the left over backpack items, bombs, ammos packs, first aid kits, into a large bag, hanging them by the side. Francis took her cue, stuffing up the extra guns they had on to his broad back, ready to be moving at a moment's notice. They had collected quite a few during their travels, which they had saved for just this occasion. "Are you ok with that Louis?"

"Yeah, just pack this thing up and come back for me." The injured man appeared to have little against it, as much as one would expect. He had wished he could have been more helpful, but then again there was also no point in beating himself up over a lost cause either. Watching the other two moving their equipment, he took a long and hard look at the one weapon he had been using during their last battle. The Heavy Machine Gun Turret still stands there, about as majestic as it could be when they first encountered. It was quite a stroke of luck to have it positioned here, ready to aid the ones down below. It was rather regretful that they had not the man power to move such a heavy object, and had to leave it behind.

"Zoey" Francis turned his head to the teenager as the two of them casually walked to their boat. It was a short walk, and small talk was ensued. "Why do you look so happy? I mean we just won a pretty big fight, and it does feel pretty damn sweet. However, if that was just it, then you seem to be enjoying this victory just a little… too much?"

"I might be." Zoey did not bother retorting to suspicions. She was still holding a secret from her teammates anyways, and she would rather not have to disclose it just yet. They would be getting a proper introduction once everything is set and done, and just before they sail off. Well, with that said, she had no idea where Florida Keys even is, considering how Bill was the only one who knew and suggested it. However, it would be extremely likely that there would be a map or something on the yacht, which is of great help. "Don't worry, I'll tell you soon enough."

"Alright, that's done." It did not take long for them to load up everything into storage, of course, with a few left out in case they ran into some unwanted encounters along the way. Still, their work is done for the most part. "What now? I'm coming back to help Louis?"

"No, I'll do that." Zoey still had something in mind before setting her sight on sailing. There was still someone that she owed. Eyeing Francis' belt, the teenager could see that he had been carrying a pair of pistols with him, meaning he could handle himself should something strange came up unexpectedly. For now, she had a different assignment for the man. "Louis only has problems with one of his legs, I can drag him here myself. I want you to go into the warehouse and get Bill for me, alright?"

"Yes," Francis would most likely be joking right now, but this was not some subject he could do so about. Even though he would most likely mock the old man and his goat beard should the two still be fighting word by word, right now, he had nothing but respect for the man, even though he did not show it. They would not be here without him, after all. Silently going for his task, he, in the back of his mind, also wanted to see Bill one last time before they decide what to do with the man's body.

"Hey Zoey," Louis seemed a bit surprised to see the teenage girl, not the biker, came to his side to help him off the balcony. He would appreciate all assistances the same, of course, but it simply struck him as odd. "Where's Francis?"

"I told him to go get Bill." Zoey refused to look at anyone as she spoke of the old Vietnam veteran. She put the man's arm through her shoulders and helped him up, leading the two towards the stairway. Louis obviously understood the emotional stress his teammate must be going through at the moment, so he decided against asking anything else, particularly the thoughts he was having considering the useful that the HMG Turret could have been. Even though it was probably the only right time to bring such a thing up, it could not be helped. "Come on."

Slowly, the two made their way towards the boat, more particularly near the storage where the guns were dumped into. Zoey settled Louis down, as the two wait for Francis' return with Bill's body. Soon enough, he appeared, holding the corpse of the old military man, still with the burnt out cigarette in his mouth.

"You gave him back the smoke didn't you?" Zoey's word pierced the biker's good intentions. Putting the old man down, he became rather flustered having people found out his "soft" side. It was against personality at best, but then again, it was not really something serious anyways. The odds of them ever coming across anywhere that would care about such a thing were basically non-existent regardless.

"Yeah, so?" Francis huffed, crossing his arms, trying to pose as manly as he could. It did nothing but amused his two teammates to no end. Realizing that it should not work, the biker dropped his shoulders and confessed. "The man went everywhere with his cigarette after all. It wouldn't feel right without it."

"I understand." Zoey smiled. They were as close as they could be at this moment, and she had no doubt that it would stay that way for long to come. However, after checking everything in her head, this was the last thing they would have to do. This means, this would be the only opportunity she had of introducing her new companions to her teammates. "I have something to tell you guys about, wait here and I'll go get it."

The two men stared at each other in confusion. It was true that they were stuck on the bridge for a long time, but what could Zoey possibly have done all the while that could have made such a difference. They waited on the deck in anticipation, waiting for the teenager to emerge from the hatch with the miracle cure or something similar. What they saw instead, was like nothing they expected.

"Zoey, is that..?" Francis could not believe his eyes, and neither could Louis, but he simply chose to stay speechless. Their eyes were definitely not fooling them, although they might have wished for such. There was a red-eyed, claw-wielding, blood-stained, horrifyingly-looking witch, walking next to Zoey as she came up from under the hatch. Both of them were actually smiling, which flabbergasted the two men even more. There was absolutely no explanations that came to mind, as they could do nothing but wait for an explanation of how this was all just an elaborate prank, or something mind-blowingly similar.

"Guys, this is Cindy."


	5. Whatcha Say

**So well, I'm back here after around a week of not updating anything. Apologies have, are and shall be given within the required context, but since there have been none yet, I am not regulated to do so. Regardless, vacation did take up a decent margin of my time, but of course that has nothing to do with the story.**

* * *

Chapter 5: Whatcha Say

"Hey, Louis?"

"Yeah man?"

"I ain't dreaming am I?"

"Ouch!" The tough nut biker squealed sheepishly as the IT manager's fist connected with his back. Naturally, it would be the simplest method of waking somebody up from a dream, or so people were told from their childhood. In truth, there have been no reported cases of people being punched in their sleep, did not register pain and then consciously decided to wake up. Regardless, the black man's demeanor was less than amused by his friend's reaction, even though he should have been. It would be less than ideal to expect him to smile at practically anything right now, as he was still trying to get the image before to sink in. "God damn it, not so hard!"

"Man just stop, I'm trying to figure this out." Francis slightly huffed at his companion's lack of meaningful. Sure, the biker was confused too, but the most he felt like needed doing was just to shrug and accept the first thought that comes to his mind. It has something to do with a yacht, five stars hotels and a Lamborghini. Louis was trying his best to wrap his mind around the matter, but nothing so far has worked. Carefully observing the specimen that was with Zoey, he noticed how it appeared to be rather dormant and calm or at least a lot more than the same kind that they had been shooting at for the last two weeks. "Zoey… you have a good explanation for this right?"

"I kind of do…" The teenage girl could have done nothing but smile back, awkwardly. She stopped to think, and figured that it was decent enough that the two men did not try to shoot Cindy on sight. From what she was seeing, Francis would probably be fine with whatever she said, as long as it did not involve someone getting killed. Explaining things to Louis would be a bit harder, but she could at least hope he would see things her way. "This is a Witch."

"We can see that." Louis narrowed his eyes. He was not sure what she was getting at, but he was willing to at least listen. It was not like he was in any position to protest, or even move from his position, so he was prepared to save the group's bond. He was still extremely uncomfortable with the Witch's presence; that much was obvious. "Continue…"

"Her name is Cindy. I found her in the warehouse where Bill was." The fact that Zoey apparently found the Witch was interesting enough for Francis to take notice. Wiping the life of luxuries off his fantasies, he was listening as well, albeit not sure of what to expect. The teenager paused for a brief moment to discern the expressions on the men's faces. None appeared to be to off-put by the news, which she was thankful for. "I was… kind of thinking of brining her with us to Florida Keys."

She had expected a response, but received none. Instead, all she got was intense stares from her two teammates. They seemed, slightly incredulous at best, about the validity of what she was saying. Their minds were trying to make out whether their companion had either lost her minds or serious. Both of those options would result in them having to deal with the Witch, however ludicrous that might sound to them right now. They eyed Cindy again, in order to take a good look at what their friend was offering them. The one next to Zoey was definitely a Witch, not the slightest of doubt about that. However, it appeared to be rather passive, which should have been the first thing they should have been worried about, admittedly. She also was not ridiculously grotesque like a lot of other infecteds they have come across so far, most likely due to the present self preservation still within her. The men were forced to think rather seriously, but they were not really coming to any conclusion as of yet.

"Can she talk?" Francis finally spoke a word, as curiosity was clearly getting the better of him. Louis seemed like he wanted to say something, but decided against it, simply letting Zoey replying to the question whenever she felt like it. The teenage girl saw that too, and came to a conclusion that this would be the perfect time to make a mutual introduction. She simply nodded and slightly nudged Cindy at the waist, gesturing her to go forward and explain.

"Uh… hello." Cindy replied with a mortified tone. It was a lot more like a little girl hiding behind her mother than those literally breathtaking screams that would erupt in a person's ear before their heads would be violently torn off their necks and the rest of their bodies mauled into pieces. It had an instant effect on both of the males, as they lost their guard almost completely, trying to let what they had just heard sink in.

"Wha…?" Francis could not even finish his sentence. He had absolutely no idea what was going on here, or this was all just some elaborate prank that the other two were pulling on him. If it were, it was definitely not funny, although he was actually secretly hoping this was legitimate, all things considered. Regardless, he was not the only one with cats gotten in their tongues. Louis was basically speechless as well. He had originally suspected an infected that was tamed or some sort; that would make sense. However, it seemed to him that Cindy was actually fully aware of her surroundings, and living with consciousness. He did not know much about medical researches and things, but he could take guesses of what the infection actually was. Looking back, almost all of the infecteds they have come across acted like rabid dogs atoned fully to their animal instincts and retain only some physical traits from before they turned. However, Cindy was the sole exception to the observation, and it fascinated him to no end. Louis was not sure of why he was so excited about this, but he just felt like it had something to do with things much bigger than him.

"Is Cindy able to give consent about this?" His inquiry was of the best of intentions, and fortunately they all knew that. Zoey was not sure of what to say, however. Sure, Cindy has always been happy to go wherever she went, but there has never really been any question of willingness nor did she think it would come up at all. However, she could soon feel the Witch's grip around her arm, giving it a gentle squeeze, as if asking for attention. Zoey turned to it, and Cindy simply nodded to show her understanding. That much was good enough for the teenage girl, albeit Louis would still have more questions. "Well I guess that much is fine. However, are you sure she's not in anyway dangerous?"

"I can say that she isn't dangerous now." Zoey made no hesitation in stating that fact. From what she had seen so far, the Witch has been nothing but extremely reasonable and even rather docile about what she had been telling it to do. Perhaps more of a little sister than a pet, like she might have previously thought, but something dormant nonetheless. There was still a bit of doubt in Zoey's mind, however, that suggests Cindy might just turn into a full fledged Witch anytime soon. She had heard news, reports and articles about the length of time it took for a person to turn full infected could range from a few seconds to as long as days. She also noted Cindy's current appearance as already fully transformed, though. The claws were fully grown and sharp, as the eyes were red and would appear bloodthirsty. However, there were pupils in the middle of those crimson orbs, something she would normally never see. "I cannot guarantee that it would stay that way, but I… beg you to just give her a chance. Could you at least do that for me?"

"Are you sure this is a good idea Zoey?" Francis did not want to be cynical on anything at this point, but his common sense told him that he needed more confirmation than appearance. People change, and more so the infected. He did not want any risks, and everyone around him would see perfectly clear where he was coming from. Zoey looked completely assured about her decision, however, as she stood firm, strengthening her stance on the subject matter. Louis had already decided, even though cautions must be taken, that he was fine with the idea. Francis did not receive any answers, but the lack of communication was made up by the fact that he could definitely read the expressions of his companions. If they trusted this possibility, then he could not stand to go against the groups' decision. "Alright, I support her coming with us."

"That's great!" Squealing happily, Zoey jumped and embraced the two grown men at full force, almost throwing them off the ship. She was extremely thankful of all things, as this was a compromise that was definitely hard to make, and she felt like they were closer than ever, considering how much they trusted her to let her do something like this. The grip was let go soon though, when Zoey noticed that Cindy appeared to be pouting. "Aw Cindy… don't be like that."

Seeing her cheerful like this had lifted the spirits of both the two men. Sure, they still had their doubts like any sane person would, but they were willing to give this a shot. There should be nothing wrong if they were careful, and this would always be something that they can live happily with should it turned out to be truly successful. Suddenly, Louis had an idea that was simply too good to pass up.

"Hey Cindy!" All of the other three turned to the manager, slightly confused and awaiting what he had to say. Louis took a few moments to rethink the situation, and appeared to be rather pleased. "You are really strong, right?"

The Witch simply nodded. It was some of the side effects of the mutations that took place inside certain infected that were not commons. From what Louis had been seeing, Witches usually had unreal strengths that allows them to slice people in half with just their nails, and able to break down bunker doors, like that one where he and Francis were jailed in, easily. Perhaps having use for such a thing would be an excellent idea.

"Where are you going with this Louis?" Francis appeared skeptical, or jokingly so, of his fellow man's spur of the moment. However, questioning those was mostly out of habit than actual spite, as everyone would know.

"Zoey, do you remember that Heavy Machine Gun Turret I used?" His two companions nodded at his words. Deep inside, they could somewhat figure out what he was trying to say already. "It was an awesome weapon, but we cannot bring it with us due to its hilarious weight. What about asking Cindy to bring it here for us so that it can be preserved for later use?"

"That's… a great idea Louis." Zoey was as ecstatic as her friend, as she did see the validity in his words. Turning to the Witch, her eyes were that of a pleader. "Can you do it Cindy?"

"I think so…" The Witch was completely unaware of the limits of her own body, so she would simply accept whatever Zoey asked her with. She had not really any memories of her past life, so there was no actual point of comparison between the strengths that she used to have and that which she did now. Of course, the others were perfectly trusting of her capacity to pull off this, and she had no room for doubt either. With that, Zoey simply walked off the ship and the Witch followed the teenage girl quickly.

"I wonder what kind of relationship they have…" Louis wondered aloud after the two females had left the scene. There was definitely one that could be called mutual, but they were rather unaware of it just yet. Just how much humanity was left within Cindy was a mystery, and there was room for someone to chime in.

"I wonder indeed…" Francis obviously had something inappropriate in mind. His teammate just ignored it, but the possibility was still present.

Back outside, Zoey lead her new friend to where she and the other two were shooting from. The balcony had actually been slightly damage due to the recoil of the Rocket Launcher which she used during the last escape from the Tanks, but it was relatively fine. The Turret was firmly mounted to it though, making it simply impossible for any normal human to have any chances of prying it out.

"Can you pull this out for me?" As expected, Cindy seemed to never stop to consider Zoey's request, simply carry it out like it was something she should. The claws were plunged in and under the concrete setting, much to Zoey's fascination. Slowly but surely, the huge contraption was lifted upon its base and onto the Witch's open arms. It appeared no more than a tedious chore for her, as the machine gun that probably weight one tenth of a ton seemed to have absolutely no discomfort on Cindy at all. It was good enough for Zoey, as she motioned her friend to follow back to their boat.

Waiting there were Francis and Louis, flabbergasted to see the enormous weapon being carried back to the ship. It was definitely not so much that it would affect their sailboat itself, but it definitely need to be stationed up front, and not within the chambers.

"You can put it down here." So Cindy did. Now the Heavy Machine Gun Turret was sitting happy up on the nose of the boat, waiting as majestically as it was before. Louis was definitely happy to get his favorite weapon so far back, as it suited him perfectly. Francis, however, seemed a bit displeased to be outdone by a girl. Sure, Cindy was a Witch, but she was still female, and Francis felt like he needed to prove himself in front of the others, for whatever reasons.

"Pfft, I can do that too, watch." The biker might have almost four packs, sufficiently grown abs and in the prime of his strength, but lifting a one hundred kilograms piece of machinery was not something truly designed for humans. Try as he might, the poor man simply could not move the gun anymore than someone was able to push it. A full minute of futile effort later, our comedic relief simply decided that he had enough. "This is stupid."

"Sure is Francis…" Louis could not help but to poke fun at the biker, to which the white male could do nothing but simply huff. It was amusing, but they had a schedule to keep.

"Alright, enough you two, we are going, now that everything's settled." Zoey broke off the pettiness. Ever since Bill's death, she had been the unofficial leader of the group. Now that Cindy was basically doing whatever the teenage girl wanted, her authority was only strengthened, not that the men minded, of course. Survival has always been their ultimate goal, and if two weeks together had taught them anything, it would be that Francis cannot command anything, and Louis had the worst luck in the world. They nodded and squirmed about. Francis took Bill's body and placed it near the steering wheel.

"What are we going to do with the old man?" The bittersweet situation had made its presence known among the survivors long ago, and they had made their peace with it. Now, it would be the matter of how long they wanted to keep the Vietnam veteran's body around.

"We will give him a proper burial once we reached the Keys." And that was just about the last thing they needed to know. Zoey stepped inside the boat to get the map, while Francis helped Louis settle down on the boatman's seat.

"You don't move, alright?" Louis did not appreciate the little jab, but he did not seem to mind much. At this point, he had known enough that everything between him and Francis had been fun and games, and there was nothing wrong with just a little more. Still…

"That joke got old, man."

Zoey soon appeared on sight with a compass and the map in hand. It was rather fortunate that Louis is familiar with driving boats. His motor skills were honed during that one time when his boss took him on a yacht. He was not going anywhere regardless, so anonymously the job of navigation was left to him. Soon enough, the sails were bloated up and started to catch wind, and the four were finally moving towards their destination.

"Francis, you stay here and keep watch with Louis." Zoey's order was to be followed by the letter, but that did not mean Francis could not poke at it while being completely innocent of said crime. Cindy was motioned to follow the girl, as it was simply normal to. "I need to freshen up."

"Why are you bringing Cindy?" The biker was definitely not blind enough to recognize the mutual understanding the two females had together, and how the Witch was actually slightly good-looking, as she must have been back before turning. Putting one and one together, he came up with his own conclusion. "You girls planning to have fun without us, or scratch that, me?"

"Sure Francis, why not?" That retort left Francis speechless. He was sure where his joke was going, but not exactly where the girl thought it was. Was she actually serious about doing that, he wondered? Zoey seemed rather amused by Francis' lack of response, and simply pulled Cindy in with her, closing the hatch's door behind them. The biker was left there, his mind kept wandering. Louis was completely aware of that fact, but he would not bother his friend on something like this. Steering this boat was his job, and he was going to do it.

"Zoey?" Cindy sheepishly inquired, as she saw the teenager locking the door behind them while beginning to take off her jacket. Zoey was only wearing a single white T-shirt inside it, and the way things were right now, misunderstandings were ensured. The teenage girl did not answer, however, as she simply excused herself into the bathroom and slapped up some water on her face, washing down all the filth and figments of the road rash she had been going through for weeks. The Witch was not sure of what to, as she simply stood there and watched her friend going about with small tasks. Zoey was done after a while, as it appeared that the Witch finally got her attention. However, the girl simply approached her confused friend, nonchalantly, and ordered.

"Take off your clothes Cindy."


	6. Don't stop

**It's been a while...**

**No it hasn't. What am I even talking about?**

* * *

_Chapter 6: Don't stop_

"Hey Louis."

"Yeah man?"

"I ain't dreaming am I?"

"Ouch!" This felt so much like Dejavu for both of them, but it had to be done. Louis really though it would help in making Francis check whether he was dreaming or not by himself, instead of bothering the IT manager when he was steering the boat. It was hard enough that he really was inexperienced in controlling motorized vehicle not-on-land, there was not even any GPS this time around to tell him where he was going. Instead he got this good old fashion map that barely anyone knew how to read anymore. He was not sure whether to curse at the end of the Dark Ages or the zombie apocalypse, as one of them were just as much as annoying as the other to him right now. "God damn it, not so hard!"

"Man, just what the hell are you on about now?" Sparing all the attention he had to listening to Francis' usual rant was one thing, but it had better be worth the time. According to this piece of thousand years old instrument, they were a full six or seven hours away from the Keys and for whatever reasons Louis did not think that Francis would be a suitable replacement to his position behind the wheels. Still, he had some time now to listen to the biker's babbling or else he would be bored to death before passing out of exhaustion.

"I have been eavesdropping on Zoey." The biker simply shrugged off the cold glare his male companion had been giving him. He went on regardless. "Nothing has been happening much, but she suddenly asked Cindy to take off her clothes!"

"You are not serious…" Not only was Francis' story telling unbelievably lacked in finesse and focal points, it also made no sense. Well, that was what Louis thought at first anyways. Sure, the biker was hard-headed, but it really would not mean that he would just make stuffs up, unless he really had ran out of materials to make fun of his teammates with. Louis was just not quite keen on just believing Francis, but what if he was right, what would be happening in there?

"I totally am man, not pulling your leg at all." Another leg joke, classic. What struck Louis as odd though was that the biker did not even seem to be aware of the joke he was making. Would it really be beneficial that it was just let go like that, or perhaps Francis was actually onto something? "I haven't heard they say anything since then, but I here a lot of noises."

"As long as there is no heavy breathing, just presume that nothing is." Louis decided to ignore that. Even though the chances, of it being elaborate bait, were still there, but he did believe Francis, just a bit. However, nothing good would ever come out of them trying to find out. For all he knew, Zoey and Cindy were in private at the moment, and despite him hating to have to deal with Francis and his wild mouth out here, he could not really do anything either. It would only be natural that Zoey would be the one who had the first rest, considering how hard she have been working and taking it. Still, a small part of him knew what both he and the biker were thinking of. "Now get your ass over here and help me not crash this boat."

"Are you wondering just a bit?" Francis seemed to hang on to his whatever theory. However, he had enough morals in him to know that it was highly wrong in trying to butt in Zoey's business, or anyone's, right now. "I mean, wouldn't it be awesome if…"

"It's not our business, Francis." Louis put his foot down, metaphorically anyways. Sure, he might be thinking what the biker was thinking, but he also knew enough about the world to hope that whatever could be happening in here had anything to do with the two males outside. What they had to do now was to get to the Keys safely, and everything else would be decided from there, by no one else other than Zoey. Hopefully they would get there before Bill's body start to stink, but at least the ocean wind was going to help them at that front. "Now get up here!"

"Fine, you're no fun, man." The biker reluctantly had to comply with the order. He was basically being useless anyways, and at least he knew that much. If Zoey was going to hog up the hatch for her and Cindy, then he would do anything to get them to the Keys as soon as possible, so he can finally take a nice, long nap and not have to worry about all of these nonsenses. Grabbing the map, Francis stared intensely at its content. A moment or two passed, his words were. "How do you use this thing?"

"Can you read a compass Francis?" Louis was not sure what help the biker would prove to be. He was not in a position to get off this chair or anything, but without the instructions on the map they could be going the wrong way. With the sailboat in this condition, they would not even able to go against the tides.

"I… am not entirely sure I'm following you." The biker rubbed his chin in deep thoughts. He knew what a compass was, but surely it was not something a hard-ass hustler like him would have to worry about. No, he had GPS for that, if he ever had a car, anyways. He had seen a map before, of course, but was not sure which way to hold it so it showed the right directions.

"Do you see the clock-like print on the edge of the map? That's the compass, man." Louis was not sure whether to laugh or be angry with Francis' apparent incompetence regarding the simplest of navigational knowledge. It was funnier though, since the only reason that the manager knew about this was from being on trips with his boss and driving the luxurious yacht, which looked strangely alike the one they burnt down before coming across this boat. He could scream karma somewhere in between, but decided against it. "Hold it so the needle with the N points upward."

"Ah, there we go; nothing to it." Louis only rolled his eyes as the biker finally was able to hold a map upright. That was incredibly ludicrous in itself, but the manager did not want to be all judgmental about it. Francis did know how to do the rest though. Not long afterwards, he was able to pin point Florida Keys with impressive accuracy of two hundreds miles off course. He knew there was something wrong; at least, that was why he kept quiet. "Erm…"

"Come on man, what is taking you so long?" Louis was losing whatever was left of his patience. It was a good thing that he had a lot to begin with, considering how he had to have Francis hang around in the first place. Looking back for the briefest of moment, he could not really sure what he was expecting. The biker was still there, staring ever so intensely at the directions. "Have you not found where the Key is at yet?"

"Just give me a minute!" Louis sighed. It was a good thing it was still bright outside. It should be some time in the afternoon, but he lost his watch somewhere in the fight, how inconvenient. At least they still have a very slim chance of getting their before dark, if the biker would just get off his ass and read. He would have done it himself if he was not basically bound to this chair and his arms had to fight the wind to just move forward. "Well Louis, if my nerdy calculations are correct, according to this smart ass map, we are going…"

"Zoey?" Cindy was not entirely sure what her friend meant when she told her to undress. Zoey appeared rather nonchalant about the question however, and simply stayed still, standing in silent. The Witch looked back and forth, still was not too keen on following what the teenage girl said, even though if it were anything else, she would have done so in a heartbeat. Maybe it was just some lingering embarrassment left in her girly posture. "I don't… understand your request."

Zoey did not plan to answer at all, as she simply left where she was. Why it was appeared to be scaring Cindy immensely. Was the teenager's lack of response disapproval towards her lack of actions? Was Zoey hoping to do something afterwards, and Cindy disappointed her. Gulping, the Witch felt like she had no other choice. She was not entirely comfortable with it, but she felt like she had to do it. There was less risk of her doing this, considering how Zoey had already locked the door after them when they came in, and now had disappeared somewhere in the back room. Slowly, the Witch squirmed her way out of what was left of the fabrics covering her vitals. It was an unnecessary meticulous process, but no one was there to watch it anyways.

"Hey Cindy." As she turned back, she saw Zoey holding a stack of clothes in her hand, but the Witch herself was wearing none, having just completed whatever task she was just assigned to. Right now, her slender arms and long nails were basically trying to cover up what was left of her clothes tried to. The scene was obscenely funny, at least to Zoey, considering how she tried so hard to hold back her laugh. Cindy went from being embarrassed to extremely mortified. She was not sure whether how she looked was putting the teenage girl off somehow, or was she just looked inherently funny. Zoey noticed the mood though, and hoped to clear the bashfulness off the air. "Oh I'm sorry; I really did not mean to laugh. It was just that you looked kind of cute while blushing like that."

"Do you think I'm cute?" Zoey did not expect that reply at all. It was as if something inside her clicked, and she turned from the image of a valiant leader into a coy teenage girl. Cindy was not sure why her friend was not answering at all, but a lot of what Zoey was doing at the moment did not make much sense at all, at least that was what the Witch thought. "Don't you?"

"Err…" Being extremely awkward at the moment, Zoey was not sure of what she should be doing. She knew that she should not be flustered like this, but she could not help it. If she lifted her eyes up to see her friend, there would be that nude body in front of her, and she should not be enjoying looking at it, but she did. The best thing she could do right now was just to go through with what she originally had in mind though. "You should go take a bath. I have prepared the water for you."

"Oh…" Cindy now understood why she was asked to take off her clothes. Then the clothes that Zoey was holding must be for her. However, stepping into the bathroom, there was just this very apparent problem that none of them had counted on before. "How do I use this?"

The teenage girl was definitely incredulous with that. How was Cindy not able to simply use a shower hose? She wanted to ignore it, but she had to just go in there.

"What is the problem Cindy?" Zoey looked around, trying her best to advert her gaze away from looking at all that skin. Nothing appeared to be out of order as far as she was concerned. She did not really take a shower in here or anything, so there might be a chance something was not working as intended. "I don't see anything wrong."

"I don't know how to turn that on." The Witch pointed at the shower hose hung on the side of the wall. Zoey took it down and inspected. She was nowhere near a plumber though, so there was really nothing she could do by just looking. She tried turning it on by turning up the switch slowly, but no water was coming out. It really did seem like there was something wrong with the system. "How is it?"

"Maybe something is stuck, but I doubt any of the guys out there can help us with this." The teenage girl knew that if she wanted to get this to work, she would have to do it herself. A few bangs of the hose on the metal did not help at all. The other would be connected to the inner workings of the wall, so she could not possibly find out what was wrong. However, she still had an idea. "Hey Cindy, try squeezing the head, only slightly putting force into it."

"Ok…" Zoey knew that the Witch had immeasurable strength compared to her own, and maybe that would help. She would not know, but it was worth the shot. The Witch received the fixture on her hand, as she lightly squeezed down at the metal. It was hard as ever though, as it would not help if she did not apply more pressure. Of course, focusing on doing this, Cindy could not have noticed that there was now nothing really covering her body, and Zoey was losing her own focus trying to not look at that general direction. It proved to be a disastrous decision though, as unexpectedly, the mechanics clicked, unleashing all the water it had been holding up. The stream of liquid sprayed all over the bathroom and on everything else in it. Zoey quickly jumped to shut off the switch which had been up to full power all this time. Both she and Cindy were already wet from that incident, though. Cindy was not wearing anything, but she was.

"Oh damn… my clothes." The teenage girl really did not want this to happen. She cannot risk wearing wet clothes like this, or else it was assured that she would catch a cold as a result. Showering immediately was the best option, but Cindy was still in here. Such a predicament she was in, and she could not tell Cindy to let her shower first either, as the Witch was already wet. "Cindy…"

"Yes?" The Witch showed off an infinitely chaste expression that would simply crash down on her friend. Zoey was definitely not sure what to do, but she had to.

"Do you want to… shower together?" She decided that since they were both girls, there should be nothing wrong. She had already seen Cindy naked after all. There should be nothing wrong if her friend would do the same. However, embarrassment was not to disappear with just that thinking though. Especially when Cindy appeared to be ecstatic towards that notion.

"Yes!" Then the hug came. Under this condition, there really was nothing between the two of them, and everything that could be felt, was. Even though the both of them were relatively dirty from having being out on the urban wilderness for a long time, relatively it was nothing too unbearable, more so since now that was the least of anyone's concerns.

Zoey could feel the blood rushing to her face as she peeled off layers of clothes one by one, down to the very last of them. Nothing could really be savaged, only hung up for later use, as she would have to change soon as well. She was not aware of what Cindy was feeling, but her eyes were still closed. She sucked up air into her chest. She kept telling herself that there was nothing strange about this, and she would just do this like she normally did before this disaster broke out. With that, she finally had the courage to open her eyes. However, what she first noticed was Cindy's owns. Those red pupils were staring at her with intense focus, and they were not exactly staying at one place as well. It mortified the teenage girl to no end, but there was really nothing she could do about it.

"Why are you staring at me like that Cindy?" The Witch heard the inquiry loud and clear, and only then did she realize that perhaps it was not a good idea to indulge in her instincts so passionately. She felt a bit embarrassed as well, as if she was caught red handed doing shameful things. Zoey really did not want to retract herself with a towel or something, even though she felt like she should. "Is there… something wrong?"

"No, I just think you're really pretty." It was the most innocent answer anyone can come up with. Suddenly, Zoey really did not feel the awkwardness anymore. Her new friend appeared to have the mind of a blooming child, more than anything else. That was a good thing, except for the fact that her body was extremely different compared to that. Still, that was nothing to be fearful of. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, you did nothing wrong." Zoey sighed contently at that. However, turning around and taking a better look at the bathroom, she realized that there was a huge miscalculation in her plan. This place had no tub, and only one shower. If they were to shower together, they would actually have to share it. That was just the thought, since how they are actually going to do that was still yet to be thought of. "Erm…"

"What's wrong Zoey?"

"I was just wondering how we are actually going to do this." Zoey pointed at the object in question, and it was relatively easy for Cindy to catch on. The Witch pondered for a quick moment, and suddenly had an idea. She took the hose with her as the teenage girl watched with an incredulous expression. Cindy simply moved closer, opening up the stream of water that had recently been unclogged. "Cindy?"

"You did say we are going to shower together." The Witch snuggled up at Zoey's back, as the water washed through both of them. In close proximity was something the teenager really had not mentally prepared herself for yet, but none of it was particular unpleasant, so she kept quiet about it. However, it was not long before something else come up with similarly questionable inquiry.

"What about the soap?"

…

"Ok… that was nice." Zoey, cleaned up thoroughly and fully dressed in a black tank and jeans set she found around. Cindy was given a plain one piece dress to put on, as she looked similar refreshed. They were not sure how long they had been showering, but it certainly was a privilege they had been missing. The hatch did not have much a bed, but there was a couch that the two decided to rest on. Zoey was sitting up, stretching herself in her new clothes, while Cindy settled next to the teenage girl, head planted on her shoulder. "Don't you think so Cindy?"

"Yes." The Witch was not even looking at anything in particular. This was such a sudden change from no sooner than this morning, but right now she felt happy like never before. She did not know anything prior to a few weeks ago, when she woke up like this. She frantically strolled from town to town trying to find answers, instead only faced with destruction and monstrosity of the infection. Since she was one of them, Cindy was never the target of any attack. However, she did have to try very hard to stay out of the way of other survivors, mostly hiding in the warehouse where Zoey found her, since she had not the bloodlust sense that her peers apparently possess. "Can we do that again soon?"

Zoey did not answer. She thought about it. The situation back then was highly questionable, now that she tried to wrap her head around it. Was she really going to develop another close bond with a teammate now that she had found Cindy? The death of Bill had already done a number on her, and she had only barely been able to get over that. Should anything happen to Cindy, or should she turn completely…

A bang on the door cut off her train of thoughts.

"Zoey," It was Francis. "We have a problem."


	7. Cellar Door

**A bit shorter this one is, but that is just because I kind of have to split it in half to save the normal length. Also, there's been a small update on my profile, just so you know. Toodles~**

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_Chapter 7: Cellar door_

"What is it Francis?"

Zoey instinctively grabs an Assault Rifle at the feet of the bench as she saw her teammate's extremely worried looks. A part of her wanted it all to be a big prank from the biker, and he would just turn and laugh at her overreaction and everything would be fine. However, it was not like nothing had ever gone wrong for them before, so the chances were slim. Cindy appeared rather confused however, for she was not paying much attention. Before she could speak up to ask, a loud crack sounded from further off the front of the boat as the whole thing simply stopped, as if bumped into something along the way.

"There's a ship, Zoey." The biker ran quickly inside the room and grabbed a Chrome Shotgun, cocking it and readying himself for action. This alone put the other two at stress, seeing as this was obviously a serious problem, even though they do not know why just yet. "Come on out, I'll show you."

"Hey guys; never thought I'd see you out here." Louis' joke flew right over the others, but he was in no mood to get it to work either. His smile faded as his gaze divert towards the huge obstacle in front of them. As sweat ran down her face, Zoey could obviously see the problem. They were travelling on a channel leading to the open ocean, but the trench itself was far from large. Now they found themselves being blocked off by a huge yacht, blocking the way from end to end. It appeared to have been pushed her by the tides and caught within the small shores. "So, what do you think?"

"This is really bad." Zoey gritted her teeth, especially considering how she thought they would be just fine after that last battle, and now they had to deal with this too. There really was no opening for their sailboat to squeeze through, and the yacht appeared to be, extremely, dead. "This poses an obvious problem. We cannot get to the keys without this sailboat, and if we wanted to get it to the ocean we have to move that yacht."

"We would have to go into that thing and move it ourselves right?" Francis stated what they deemed to be the only solution at the moment. They could not just go around the obstacle, because it would take too long and their resources would run out soon. If they decided to get more, it would just forfeit the safety of their own vehicle, so it looked like one lose-lose situation. Zoey could say nothing but nod. "Yeah, that sounded really stupid, so that was how I know."

"I would hate to do that as well, really." Zoey sighed. It was not like she had much of a choice either. If it was up to her old defeatist attitude she would have been complying with just staying here until the food ran out, but that was obviously no longer the case. She leaded the team now, and it was her job to get them out of here safely, whatever the cost. "But there really is nothing else we can do Francis. I'm always open for new ideas."

"Fine," The biker scoffed at the notion, because he knew that there were no way back as well. They had come too far to be intimidated by this, although an entire yacht worth of infected would sound very bad. He could imagine it now, them crawling in from every corner, waiting to take a bite at his manly figure, just like that time at the airport. "So how are we going to do this?"

"Well, Louis obviously is not coming with us, and I do not think Cindy can either." Zoey sighed. They were actually short on personnel now that they had something to protect and had to get back to. That had never happened before, but there was a first time for everything, she supposed. "Well, you stay here and protect the boat, alright? Cindy, you help him if there was anything wrong, alright?"

"You got it." The IT manager had no problem with complying with the order, as his chances of being able to move effectively was few and far between, even though it had been almost a day since his injury. The wound was just not healing up quick enough, and he despised it.

"But I want to go with you…" The Witch let out an expressive whine, which was extremely effective on everyone else. Zoey knew he had to be firm however, as she approached her new friend, putting her hands on Cindy's shoulder and explained.

"You would be of more help here Cindy. Louis needs his back up, and I need a gunman." Zoey also lit up a smile in the mean time, hoping it would get everyone's spirits up. Cindy adverted away from the teenage girl, but Zoey held her loosely by the chin, as to force eye contact. "I am going to be fine out there Cindy, but I would not be if you fail to do your job here. You are a part of the team now, and I need you to act like it, alright?"

"I… yes," The Witch looked like she was tearing up and Zoey as well. Even though this was far from the hardest thing the teenager had done in the last few weeks, this was the first time she had to do this without her full team. It was daunting and worrying at the same time, but she knew she needed to have faith, because if she did not then no one else would. Seeing as Cindy finally conformed to her orders, Zoey at least had that much more off her shoulders.

"That's a good girl." She hugged the Witch tight, giving her that one last bit of push in order to motivate at least the two of them for what was about to come. Cindy simply cried off her shoulders, refusing to let go at the mean time. It almost seemed like their last goodbye, which actually made the two males held on to their sad smile. "Francis, give Louis something to work with."

"On it," The biker went into the inner cabins to fetch some more guns to prepare for the defense of the boat. He was not sure what the absolute plan was, but nothing was going to get itself done if he just waited around. Zoey remained still for a few minutes more, giving Cindy all the time she needed before Francis come back. It did not take long though. "So, what are we doing now?"

"There seems to be no way to get directly onto the ship, so we would need to find a big enough piece of wood or a hooking rope in order to climb onboard. Once in there, we can move the damn thing out of the way." As Zoey spoke, she slowly loosened the Witch's grip on her in order to more conveniently ease Cindy off and onto the bench of the front of the sailboat. "Louis, you get the boat moving as soon as you see the yacht does. Once it's out a sufficient distance, the two of us would jump off the ship and climb back here, and we need you to be ready. Only move from the shore when you see the yacht move however, as if something went wrong and we cannot reach the out deck we need the sailboat here to run back to, alright?"

"Whenever you're ready," Louis, Sniper Rifle in hand, flashed Zoey an ok sign, signaling the teenager to carry on with her plan whenever. The IT manager knew that his job was also a significant one. He knew that once Zoey and Francis drop themselves off from the ship, they would probably be exhausted, and the last thing they want would be someone to drown off a channel. He drove the boat towards the shore, as close as he could without actually touching the ground. The two members involved in the mobile party simply jumped a short distance onto firm land, and ready to roll out.

"Right, come on Francis." With that, the operation went into action. Francis wields a dual pistol and his personal favorite shot gun, along with a kit and a Molotov cocktail. While Zoey holds an M-16 Assault Rifle, a machete and a pipe bomb for good measures. That was the best equipment they could bring on two people, and they had to make it work.

"Hey Zoey." Francis slipped in some questions as they first make pace along side the coastline. They had to find something usable close enough in order to make a timely return to the ship should they run into too solid a line of infected. The surroundings were strange to the both of them, so they had to time their visits to the houses, hoping to find a decent rope of some sort. "Where did you get the idea of bringing Cindy with us?"

"What do you mean?" Zoey replied with the lowest possible voice. They did not want to make any loud noises that would trigger an unnecessary battle that they could have avoided. Most of every casualty of infected so far has been left to Zoey and her machete, in order to not draw attention from anything nearby. They had already checked out three consecutive buildings without any luck. Their sailboat has now disappeared from sight completely. "Don't you like Cindy?"

"No, nothing like that, I have no problems with her." Francis continued. He was at the front now, looking at various enemies from all sides, but they were not onto his movements just yet. He spotted a convenient store at the far side, and signaled his teammate to back him up, which she was already doing, just in case. "But, usually we would just leave a Witch alone or immediately kill her once we had the encounter. What made you hesitate about Cindy?"

"I don't know…" Zoey, her back to Francis, was holding her gun up and shooting up some of the strays that were getting too close for comfort. Her memories raced back to that fateful happenstance, and how far away it seemed now, even though that was no more than the same morning. It was now approaching midnight, but the moon was bright enough so they did not have to abuse their flashlights too much. Doing so would be disastrous should it attract too much attention. "It just seemed…wrong at the time to try and jump her. Then I heard she spoke, which I was too curious to let go of."

"It was a good thing it worked out huh?" The two of them were now in front of the store. It appeared to be rather in tact for somewhere full of supplies during the apocalypse, which only gave them the idea of just how fast this region was infected. Francis held up a finger, hinting that they should stop talking and be ready. Zoey knew what he was talking about. The lights were not on but the emergency system might still be working, and should they try to break in it would cause a huge problem for them. "You wanna do this?"

"Go ahead." With that, the biker smashed his boot and the door's handle, breaking the door inward. Just as suspected, a burglar alarm sounded, and Francis simply chuckled at the uncanny irony. He was almost arrested for robbing a convenient store before the infection broke out, and now he was back, right where he was. "Let's go and find what we need. Those things would be all over us soon."

"Right." Francis surged forward and into the store, flipping on his flash light, and so did Zoey. By the looks of things, this store was cleared out of personnel prior to the infected, because every reserve devices seemed to be quite in order. It was not long before Francis was able to find a light switch, and they were able to finally see things clearly. However, the sounding alarm had already managed to attract a horde heading for their location. "Oh damn, this again."

"Man the door Francis, I'm going to get what we need." A rope had to be here somewhere, Zoey thought. She never worked at a store before to get an idea of just exactly how they organize their merchandise, but this seemed to be a really bad way from her perspective. She could already here Francis' gun shots unleashing themselves on the incoming wave of infected. It was quite obvious that since the alarm would not go away for another few minutes, nor could they turn it off somehow. So, there plan was basically ticking against the clock. "How is it out there?"

"Just focus on finding the damn thing, Zoey. Holding on to this is a piece of cake." Francis seemed to be handling himself well. Using the broken door as a choke point, he was easily able to hold off the tides of infected with well-timed shot gun blasts and dual pistol sniping off the far side Smoker. The store's glasses were also triple layered, significantly slowing down the effort of the commons trying to break through it. However, his ears rung as a distinct gurgling sound was heard among the carnage. No one really needed to tell him it was a Boomer, and he knew his time was running out. "Okay, maybe not."

Zoey took that as a sign obviously stating that she needed to hurry up and get this done. After all, nothing good would come of this if Francis ever got caught out without her cover. Soon enough, she heard a loud explosion, obviously that of a Boomer bursting, and nothing good ever come out of a Boomer being shot by a shot gun. However, she had gotten what she came for.

"Francis, fall back, I got it." Tucking the grappling rope to her waist, Zoey had her gun on hand again. She jumped off to the halls to get a clear shot, and she could see just what was expected. The biker was swarmed by a large horde, having been covered by a spray of Boomer Bile. Having heard the teenage girl's signal, Francis pushed off those he can and sprayed his shells onto the upcoming wave. Zoey provide cover fire with her rifle while he tried to get the spray off of him. "There is a safe room deeper in the store, come on!"

The two of them raced towards where seemed to be the warehouse, with waves of infected right on their blazing trail. The distance needed to be ran was not too terribly long, however, as they see themselves closing the safe room door soon enough. Heavy objects around them were quickly moved in order to block off the path they just came through. Another minute passed before the alarm finally stopped, and the two of them knew they just locked themselves out of their shortest escape route.

"That was rough, really." Zoey smiled as she wiped off her sweat of exhaustion. Even though she really did not enjoy running, it was highly advantageous that she was able to train herself to at least have the speed to run away from hordes like that. They did not encounter any Tanks on the main street, so their current position was relatively safe. "At least we got what we came for."

"How are we getting out now though?" Francis was reloading his shot gun with the ammo pile placed inside the safe room. It was a relatively safe encounter. There were some scratches and bruise on him, but nothing too serious that a first aid kit cannot fix. There were spares lying around, after all. He was opting to switch weapons, but decided against so. "The entrance would be crawling with those things right now. Can we break through them?"

"We can, but that would only make a big fuss and draw even more of them chasing us back to the ship, and we want none of that." Zoey, after preparing her weapons up for the next run, checked out the other end of the safe room. From what she was able to see, it led to an emergency exit on the other end of the walk. "Hopefully that place I spotted would open up to a back valley or something, so we can get out. Are you ready?"

"Yeah." Cocking his gun was probably the easiest way to get his message across. The biker lifted the bar off the safe room door and pushed it open closely. As far as he could see, there was no infected in sight, so this store prior to the breakout must have been already cleared out quite good, as not even a single guard could be seen here. Zoey was right behind him, watching the back, just in case something was to jump out at them. However, none of it happened, and they approached the exit door quite easily. The two flung the thing open and stepped out, guns blazing, but everything appeared to be rather stale. It was strange to say the least. However, they recalled Louis' saying "Zombies are like piranhas. They ain't too choosy about their attacks. So when there's a lack of piranhas, this must mean there's a shark around." Exactly on queue, a loud, earth shaking even, growl ripped through the air. It exploded on top of them, causing the two to look up. "I think I know what happened to the guard."

As the tank dropped down from the roof and onto the land just where they were standing a few seconds a go, they were grateful that they moved just enough so their bodies were not simply crushed under the massive weight. However, they now have a tank on their hands.

"Fire in the hole!" Francis was ready to throw the Molotov at the door as they were falling back to the safe room.

"Wait!" However, Zoey stopped him in his track. "If you throw it now, the tank can corner us in here and incapacitate us both! He would die but we would not be able to get out of here alive either!"

"Damn it." Francis had no choice but to surrender to that logic and tucked his fire cocktail away. "So what now?"

"The Tank would take a long time to break down that small space so it could follow us." Zoey had already begun to run, which signaled Francis to follow her. It was a good thing that this hall was not a two-end way, as there were some stairs at the back end. This was relatively simple to their running away at the Mercy hospital, but now they knew that there was nothing else saving them except for themselves. "Hopefully we would be able to get down before it reaches us."


	8. After the fall

**I'm on a roll!**

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_Chapter 8: After the fall_

"Hey Cindy,"

"Yes?" The Witch was pulled away from her trance, turning back towards the man behind her, whose legs rested firm upon the boat's floor, arms over its steering wheels. He appeared rather serious, and it did strike Cindy as odd. Her impression of Louis was of a young man with his lips full of jokes and head full of positivity, so it was rather strange to see him so grim.

"What have you been looking at?" He was simply curious of her doing. To be fair, she had been staring at the general direction from where Zoey and Francis had disappeared out of sight for the last twenty minutes or so. Her body movements were indicating that she was just about to jump at any possible movements. It was quite evident that they were able to hear the convenient store's alarm as well, and they were not sure of how to react. There were some infected being called towards that general location which did cross in front of them, but Louis held on to his gun. He knew that should he try to help by taking them down, it might draw attention towards the boat, and that was something nobody would ever want.

"I was hoping for Zoey to come back." Cindy's response was of utmost innocence, and Louis could not help but smile at it. From what he had learned, she and the teenage girl had been able to develop a strange bond that he never thought was possible, let alone between a human and an infected, among other things. He never really took Francis' fantasy to heart, but he had been contemplating about the possibilities as well. Sure, they might not realize it, but it was not totally out of the question whether it was true or not. "They have been gone for a while."

"Well I'm worried too, kid." That was just blurted out of Louis, but he really did not feel like taking it back. If anything, Cindy was seen as a little girl to him. She certainly had a body of a teenager, but anything else was just pure innocuity, much difference from what he have expected, and seen, in a Witch. Really, her very existence was fascinating. He wondered what she had gone through so far though. He never really had raised a family before, so no knowledge about dealing with children ever rubbed off on him. Still, he could imagine it being rather harsh. "How did you turn into this?"

"I don't know. I don't remember anything." Cindy sat back down on the side of the boat, the lower half of her face buried within her arms. She was showing a rather dismal expression, and it really did not help lift the mood. However, no one could really blame her, as her memories left a void within the mind that was hard to fill. "All I knew was waking up some time ago, in a house. Everything outside was destroyed and I was alone."

"That must have been tough." Cindy only replied with a nod. Louis pondered in his place for a moment. He had given up his best look out position, but it was not like anything was crossing their paths anymore, fortunately. Her conditions reminded him of his parents. The two were vacationing somewhere out up on New York, so they hopefully could have been rescued. However, the chances were abysmal; as it was obvious humanity itself had not been able to react to this breakout in time. It was a strong possibility that he might have lost them forever. It was a sad thing to muse about, but it was a reality that was hard to face yet impossible to be ignorant of. There was simply no reconcile with the truth, and he just had to live with it. He also lost Bill along the way. It did not crush him as much, since the two of them only knew each other for a few weeks, at least not as much as his death did Zoey. Still, he felt helpless, and that bothered him a lot. Sighing, Louis decided to stop thinking about it, and continued. "What happened then?"

"I roamed around for a few days, trying to find something or someone that could have helped. There was no luck." The Witch's reminiscence of her earlier days was not of particular uses, but it was just something to pass time between the two of them. Really, there was not much to do but wait at this moment, and waiting in silent was a horrible feeling. Cindy did not sound too fazed about reminding herself of those days, as Louis thought was mostly because she had nothing to miss. He was envious of that, but also guilty of even thinking that it might have been better that he had not a past to start with. "I eventually settled down in that warehouse where Zoey later found me, to cry. I do not know why, but I was simply overcome with the urge to sob through the times. It did not make me feel better, as if I was weeping over my own pointless life."

"So how did you and Zoey meet?" It had been something that he had been meaning to ask. Sure, the teenage girl had explained that it was within the warehouse where Bill's body was found, but nothing more than that. Louis was quite split on whether he wanted a seemingly coincidental kind of too-good-to-be-true moment or not, but he was willing to not let himself be disappointed.

"It was yesterday's morning, right?" It seemed quite apparent that the Witch had lost her track of time long ago, but it was also clear that she was still holding her knowledge for when she was human, attributed to her proper knowledge of the English language, as well as being able to correctly handle most of the tools she had come across. Her ailment was similar to that of amnesia, which was understandable as far as side effects of the infection went. "I think I was crying then, before I hear something being thrown in the distance. As I approached the object, I heard someone from behind me, talking. I honestly was very scared. People whom I have met before were not kind to those alike me, while those alike me were not quite able to speak. Zoey was really… sweet though."

"Yeah, she's like that." Louis chuckled a bit. He recalled the moment when he first met Cindy. If it was Francis who was bringing back the Witch he might have just shot them both. It was a pleasant surprise, at the very least. Besides, if Cindy was not found then Louis would be sitting on this boat alone at this moment, and all of it could be attributed to nothing but pure luck. Perhaps it was Bill that caused this turn of events, and everyone owed it all to him. "You two sure look close, though."

"I think so. I do like her very much." That was just about as unsullied as it got. Louis simply smiled at that. He knew that as Cindy was right now, she would be far from what a person would call a consenting adult, but it was not like that had ever stopped anything either. He might have to live in frustration for the rest of his life, but he was not really complaining. Still, the Witch appeared to be not as comfortable with the situation as he was. "I just hope she likes me too…"

"If there is one thing I can say for sure in this crazy world as it is, Cindy, it would be the fact that Zoey definitely likes you." His assured complexion did do a good job at cheering her up, and he actually did believe it. Of course, his definition of "like" might not be of a total match to hers, but the idea was there. It was simple that there was simply no need for anyone to worry about Zoey's care for the little Witch, if only the two of them had seen it for themselves. "You're special and she knows it."

"Hopefully, but why?" She only raised her face to ask that question. It was not quite a pervious question though, considering how Louis was quite not sure what he should be answering. Still, Cindy's quest for the truth did not stop, and she must have what she came for. "Zoey is so kind to me. She has been taking care of me ever since she met me, and all I ever did for her was whine. Why does she like me?"

"I…" The man really did not expect that. He was never a good public manager, regardless of how ludicrous that may sound. If it was up to him; he would straight up tell Cindy that Zoey would never really care what she does and would stay with her in spite of what she might think. However, he really had no hope in trying to explain it to the Witch in her current state. He deliberated by himself for a moment. "She likes you because you are special, Cindy. You are someone who we could never hope to match to her. You're the best friend she could have asked for."

"Really?" Louis had nothing else in him but smile and nod. There literally was nothing else which he could have hoped to accomplish with that. To be fair, he himself was not sure of what Zoey thought, because she was a lot more adult and harder to read that the Witch could ever be. Who knew what she could be hoping to get from Cindy. As it was then, Cindy had cleaned up and had herself closely resemble that of a normal teenage girl, if it was not for the claws. She was actually pleasant looking. "That is good to hear."

"Let's just wish them luck, alright?" He decided to end the conversation at this point. His mind had been trying to ignore the bad possibilities, but he knew it could always happen. Moving his leg, he was aware that even though it was still far from peak condition, it was at least reliable enough to let him walk slowly paced, but running was out of the question. That was why he wanted to wait until he absolutely had to leave to do so, all the while keeping what he was thinking from the Witch, for she might act to irrationally for it to succeed. He just wished everything would go according to plan and he would not have to think about using his last resort…

"Molotov coming!" Francis yelled loudly as he signaled his teammate to keep moving forward. The Tank had finally broken through the door and was chasing after them, which none would have liked. With the fire out, they would hope to keep the distance from the beast and keep running upwards the stair in order to wait until he is burnt to death. However, Zoey could do nothing but cursed as the store's emergency fire system rang its alarm, letting loose the stored up water and extinguish the flames on the Tank, as well as drawing in all infected within a hundred feet radius. "Holy crap that was a bad move."

"Come on, we need to make it to the roof." Zoey gritted her teeth as she was the one in front, trying to shot down all of the infected before her with deadly precision, yet they just kept on coming relentlessly, as one would expect. She was getting tired of it, but it was far from her choice. They were able to access the higher levels of the store through the emergency exit stairs they were travelling on, but she decided against it. "Just keep going up, Francis!"

"Why aren't we using the elevator?" The biker knew that all of his firepower was needed in order to bring down the incoming Tank. They could not stop for even a second, for if the giant was able to close the distance then the two of them would be in deep trouble. He just had to trust the girl to be able to hold the front lines. Still, he must admit that even though his shot gun was not the best thing to use against such a thick-skinned entity, the close range of which he was firing from made it much more ideal than Zoey's Assault Rifle. "It would save us the trouble of breaking through the upper levels."

"Are you really saying we should count on the Tank not simply ripping the thing in half?"

"Good point."

With that settled, the two kept on moving. Francis knew that both of them were running low on ammo, and even if he was able to kill off the Tank who was to say they would have enough to get out. Besides, none of them even thought through how exactly they were even going to escape yet, as all they have been doing was running further and further away from the ground, their destination. Their feet were obviously wearing out, and they need to kill this Tank and find a safe room; before things get too out of control. Of course, that would be if it were not already.

"I'm out, Francis." Zoey clucked her teeth as she put her Rifle on her back pulls out her machete. There really was nothing else to give from that gun anymore, and this was where it got hard. Her melee weapon would have been fight, if it were not for the fact that they were being chased. Still, it could at least get the job done without having to sacrifice her Pipe Bomb too soon. Of course, nothing would be too soon if they were killed. "How close is that thing going down?"

"I'm saying ten shells or so." Francis had to run backwards now, considering how his effort of running and turning before gunning had not been working out well so far. However, at least they were getting somewhere. The problem with Zoey's blade, however, is that it requires her to be in close quarters with the infected before able to take them out. This would mean corpses of the undead piling up the floors before Francis could reach her position. Considering how everything was wet after the fire alarm went off, slipping was a very real problem. Having fired all eight left in his gun, Francis began to reload his gun. "Two, now if only-"

"Francis?" Zoey turned around in horror. Her fear had come true, as the biker lost his footing backing up against a dead body and landed back first onto the stairs. He was not severely injured, but the Tank approaching dangerously close was setting its mind on changing that. The shells were not loaded yet, and he was defenseless. In that split second of haste, knowing that the Tank was brutally wounded as well, she made a decision. "Damn it to hell!"

Zoey jumped off the stairs, machete in hand, thrusting her weapon as hard as possible straight into the hulk's head, dropping its massive bodyweight down the flight of stairs. As the ginormous monster plunged into the abyss below, Zoey was able to land back up onto the stairway, albeit badly bruised and lost her weapon during the process.

"Holy crap." Francis had no words to describe what he just saw. If that was not action movie material he would not know what was. However, he soon realized that the both of them were in a state of danger like this. Reaching for his side pockets, he grabbed firm of his two pistols. "Zoey, catch!"

"Got it." The teenage girl, fire arm now in hand, stood up immediately and blasted the heads off of a few incoming infected, while Francis was busy reloading his shotgun again. It was a hell of a fight, but they got through it this time at least. "Come on, this way, I think I saw a safe room."

The two abandoned their plans to go up the emergency stairs and went through the wrecked exit door, which the Tank broke down on its way up, and into the inner halls. It turned out that the entire building only had the first floor as a convenient store, while the rest of the levels were an office complex. It turned out to help their cause, as the safe room which Zoey spotted before was conveniently located to cover the elevator. The two of them basically leapt inside it, as both of their weapons had depleted their ammo after a minute run through the wholes crawling with enemies. Francis shut the door behind him and barricaded it, just to make sure.

"Damn Zoey, you were like Angelina Jolie back there." The biker needed to keep his dose of comedy right now, or else he would kill himself with the stress. Zoey knew that though, so she just smiled along with it, even though her body was hurting all over. Francis tripped on the stairs, but she basically flew off and landed on it. Her entire back was cracking, and she was not even sure her bones were holding together. However, they still had a shot at this and that was enough for her. "You were flying everywhere, stabbing monsters and all that jazz."

"Just what movies have you been watching?" The teenage girl chuckled at the apparent humor. It was a bit ironically that she was watching a zombie movie before all of this had broken out, but right now it was not her place to worry about poor taste. Her gun storage was now sufficiently reloaded, and she had given Francis back his pistol, while taking up a baseball bat in the room as her choice of secondary weaponry. She still had what they came here for, and the elevator was right behind them. "Alright Francis, we are going down, alright?"

"Are you crazy? The lift on the first floor opens to a space crawling with those things, remember?"

"Yes, but it is also our only way to the exit." Zoey gritted her teeth and trying to fight off the pain as she patched up with the first aid kits they have brought with them, while stocking up those they found within the room. Francis was stocking up as well, but it did not seem like they had a lot to get. "There is nothing up there for us, Francis, and unless you want to go through that emergency stair case down, we're taking the elevator."

"Right." He readied himself as Zoey did as well. "Why are we not taking a break though?"

"We need to get back soon. If we're gone to long those waiting for us might get worried." Zoey, cocking up her Assault Rifle with her finger on the trigger, had no plan to stick around and wait. She was coming to her own terms with something as well. She did not want to make those who cared for her wait. They had to be separated this time, and she was never going to make it so again once this was done. The biker started up the elevator as it presented itself prepared to go. As they expected, the lift was vacant. "I know what Bill felt like now. However, I do not intend to do what he did."


	9. Carry On

**.. how long has it been?**

* * *

Chapter 9: Carry On

"Let's go!" Francis screamed as the elevator door pried itself open. If anything it would break down the next time anyone try to do anything with it. It did not matter though. They were on the ground floor, and it would now be the time to make a run for it.

Zoey could have very well slapped the biker for being so unnecessarily loud, but it mattered little now. The crashing lift gave the Infecteds a lot of heads up already. It was not like banging his gun into the wall would have made much difference at all. She let her rifle run over the closest to the door even without her actually knowing it. Headshots after headshots, she has been doing this for too long under too harsh the circumstances to mess up at something like this. They had already gone over the plans, and now it was time for her to put it to perfect execution. Running forward, Zoey leered at the surrounding enemies with nothing but death and precision in mind. Francis followed her suit, arming himself with the newly reloaded shotgun but holding in the firing. The Assault Rifle was doing most of the work, sniping off the closest of the hordes of enemies approaching them at speed. She did not want to waste a lot of bullets, and more so for the Pump Shotgun the biker was holding. Seconds later they had already reached the door to the store through which they came in, only this time a lot more populated and, even littered to an extent, with Infecteds of all shapes and sizes. They did not care about any of that, as all they wanted was to escape.

"Swap," quick and clean Francis rolled up to the front. They were outside now, with a distinctively cluttered crowd awaiting their presence, and not the happy kind. This was when the shells would come in handy. If the biker didn't know any better it would have felt like his birthday, using his favorite weapon to blast open some zombies had got to be one of his birthday wishes a few years back. Only now, his wish was actually becoming true. Of course, as he laughed up the world and cleared out the way for their retreat, Zoey was much more worried about so many other things. However, nothing would be much more relevant than not getting your face bitten off at this very moment, so she would believe just thinking about it another time would be much more appropriate.

The gun slinging would not stop soon however, as they were still a full ten minutes before reaching the shore. They could make it to the water for added safety but no one knew what was lurking under the surface, nor would they want their guns to go defunct and their ropes to be even heavier than it needed to be. Most of what Zoey was doing now was to look out for Special Infecteds than actually trying to kill those things chasing after them. As long as they were careful the horde should not catch up in time, unless they were snatched by an incoming Hunter or something.

"Look out Zoey!"

"Oh hell." As the teenage girl realized there was something she had failed to account for, it acted up. The shotgun was too scattered for Francis to kill the attacker, but he managed to dodge the leap. This, however, left Zoey in the way of the pounce, as she could not react fast enough, facing backwards to the threat. The Hunter got her just as she turned back, knocking the gun right out her hands as its overwhelmingly strong limbs pinned her to the ground and its claws tore right through her jacket and dug into her skin as her arms tried their best to stop the flaying, largely to no avail. Francis, having recovered from the stumble, cussed through his teeth as he had to draw out the axe behind him, as to not risk hitting Zoey by accident with the shotgun shells. One quick swipe and the Hunter's head flew right off, but the damage was already done.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Just stick to the plan and we'll get out of here." Zoey, with all her mental strength, collected her lost gun and followed the worried biker, as he resumed his position in the front lines unleashing arrays of bullets onto the enemy. She wished she could have done that with a little more finesse, as the blood had already been leaking out the holes of her ripped shirt. If that would have had her dying then she would have been able to live until now, however. Her mind was her own pain placebo, as she continued the operation as if nothing had really happened. Francis was still much pumped, as the adrenaline driving him was simply surging. Hers, however, was lacking due to the mental fatigue. Her shot was getting slightly off target, her eyes were getting blurry and so was her mind. She pressed on, however dangerously so.

"We're almost there!" The biker was completely right, as per his memories the boat waiting for them would only be right behind that huge container now standing before them. Zoey did not manage a response, only a slight smile when Francis turned back to check on her. He knew she was in pain, but there was nothing he could have done, as this was no time to stop to apply a first aid kit. They just had to push on, and she knew it as well. However, their train of thought was disrupted by a roar of something much, much larger. Francis looked to the side, and all he could see was a myriad of Infecteds being knocked to the side by the rampaging Charger that was heading right his way. "Shit."

As the passing Charger swooped by, Zoey was knocked off her feet and flung back a distance. She did not know what happened to Francis, as her pain and her consciousness were simply screaming at her from all directions, so much so that it appeared she would be going quite deaf. Caught off guard, she failed to realize how the next wave of Infecteds was already moving close. She could not see to save her life, but simply fired the rifle and varying degree as her instinct told her to. That did not do much good, however, as she soon found her neck being wrapped with a slimy rope-like object, suffocating her breathing.

"I can't die now."

It started to squeeze harder.

"The boat's just right there."

She began to be pulled back.

"Francis needs my help."

The road burn applied as she was being dragged.

"Louis is waiting."

Her mind was going blank.

"Cindy..."

…

"Did you hear that?" Louis was startled as the sound of gunshots started to blow up the silence of Rayford. He could certainly notice the massive amount of Infecteds literally swarming towards the source of the noise with every shot fired. Above everything else, it gave him extreme nervousness. For one, it was almost blatantly obvious that it was the signal of Zoey and Francis returning to their boat. Still, it did not make him any less worried, accounting that big a horde running at his friends. Second of all, he could not ignore the fact that there might just be a negative reaction coming out from Cindy, considering how they knew nothing of her mentality when it came to being exposed to her kin. "Cindy?"

"Zoey..." Turning around, he could see the Witch leaning anxiously forward, facing the direction of the sound of gunfire. For all he knew, she was not transforming into a bloodthirsty vampire and tearing him apart at the first sight of the Infecteds, and that was about as good as he could ask for.

"Stay quiet ok?" With his index finger shushing her, Louis slow reached for the Sniper Rifle and held it up before his sight. Looking through the scope, he realized that a largely part of the offshore was blocked from his view by a giant container, and unless the other two make it through he would not be able to assist them from the boat. At least iron sight had been helping him keep tab on the amount of incoming Infecteds. His heart was pumping repeatedly as the sound of gunfire moved closer and closer on the other end of the container, as sweats started to drip down his face.

He shook, as the roar of the giant-arm mutant beast slashed through the air like an angry train track. He could not see the perpetrator from this end, but he could certainly hear its voice breaking it its own vocal chords and, a few seconds later, the loud crashing noise it made as its humongous arm slammed into the wall on the far side. What really got him, however, was something in his sight, instead. Standing from the far back of a nearby billboard, there it was, the beastly abomination full of lumps and appendages, readying itself in striking distance. In an instant, its whip-like tongue shot out into the blocked combat zone, as it appeared to have latched onto something. Two seconds later, the tongue was started to be reeled back in, and Louis no something was wrong. He could both wait here and do nothing, hoping that the other two would be able to take care of themselves, or killing the Smoker and risk compromising his defensive position. He knew he did not have enough time to think about it, however, and he had to do what he had to do.

"Shit" The bullet burst out the rifle with a cloud of fiery smoke as it surged through the air and landed a clean shot right into the abomination's head, turned it into a pile of intestines and exhumed smoke. The tongue, as expected, snapped. Louis hoped he had made the right, choice, as the nearby Infecteds turned their heads, as it was obvious they were drawn to the shot coming from his general direction, and seemed to have all of their attention onto him and the boat. "Shit"

…

Zoey felt as if she had just gone to hell. As the flesh whip unraveled in her hands, she dropped to the ground, gasping for air. Blinded temporarily by the lack of blood circulating her brain, Zoey frantically tried to reach for her gun as a first reaction. It did not take too long for her to clear her head, but it was far from over. A quick moment of observation revealed the predicament that she was in. Francis, despite being able to dodge the charge, was still being chased by the beast, while she had been surrounded by the next wave. Ammo was running low, and things were definitely not looking good. Clucking her teeth, the teenager pulled a Pipe bomb out of her pocket and aimed it as far away as possible, giving an almost impossible throw towards the end of the opposite sidewalk. It worked, as far as she was concerned to tell. A few rounds of bullets were able to save the biker from the rampaging mutant.

"Can we move now?" Francis smiled, coughing through his teeth, as his fatigue was starting to kick in. They had a few more seconds until the Pipe Bomb explodes, and that was about all they needed. Zoey, without too much energy to speak, lightly slapped him the back and started moving. Francis took that as his queue, pulling out the axe to replace the dry firing he had done for the last minute or so. Leading the charge once again, his job would just be to clear out anyone coming towards him. "The boat should be just beside the container!"

Zoey nodded, even though she knew fully well Francis could not see her do so. It was more of a reassurance to her than anything. However, as she ran, she noticed a strange phenomenon. The nearby Infecteds were simply much scarcer than before. It was a good thing as far as she could tell, but there was a part of her knowing that there was something wrong. Francis did not seem to pay much attention to it, but then again she knew he was focused on different things, mostly trying not to get killed.

The situation soon revealed itself to the two of them, as they realized that their ship was being attacked from the far sight. Louis' shot that saved Zoey unfortunately draw the next horde towards him instead. It was much too hard for him to handle the entire swarm by himself, as he had to look out and dodge Special Infected as well, although none had actually spawned yet. He was too busy firing to notice the two running at them, at least not yet.

"Louis!" Francis screamed as his friend from the boat immediately turned his attention towards the biker. They all smiled, as finally they had reinforcements to watch their backs. Zoey did not give too much of a thought for Louis, for she knew he could take care of himself as much as anyone, even with a disabled leg. What she was looking for, unsurprisingly, was Cindy. After not too long, she spotted the Witch coiling into a corner near the sail, eagerly awaiting the teenager's return. A moment passed before the two of them established eye contact. A smile finally began to creep onto Zoey's face, as her weak body was already starting to give out. Her smile quickly disappeared, as she saw the abashed terror in Cindy's face. It was at that moment when the ground was starting to shake. Zoey knew what was about to happen, as she turned around as fast as she could, facing the imminent threat. In front of her eyes was an abandoned fast food joint. On top of all that was the titanic flesh crusher that she had feared all along.

"Get on the boat!" She screamed and Francis followed suit. Slashing his way towards the last bastion, he was helped by the cover fire provided by Louis, which made the trip all the more easier. However, due to the lack of a long range firearm, only Zoey was able to focus her fire on the Tank, and it was definitely not enough. Francis got onto the boat not so long afterwards, as a giant chunk of concrete followed his general direction. Noticing the projectile flung at her, Zoey was forced to backtrack to dodge it. However, the Tank was no longer so dormant with its positioning. Jumping from an impossibly high angle, it was looking to crush the teenage girl as it landed. Acting quickly, she was able to roll away from impending doom, but found herself without a gun against a ten feet tall monster that could break her bones by just slapping randomly. Louis, having noted the danger at hand, diverted most of his fire towards the Tank while Francis, being safely on the boat, reached for a gun of his own.

"Zoey" The Witch's eyes widened frantically as she realized the danger her friend was in. With that bloodied physique, none would expect her to outrun a rampaging Tank, and she simply could not. One punch from the hulk sent her flying back towards the harbor and away from the boat. The array of bullets followed the Tank's movement and was able to take it out before it could cause more problems. However, the damage was already done.


End file.
